' BS 2826 


SEP 27 itjy? 


.G7 
Copy 1 


' 






KEY TO THE 




REVELATION Of ST, JOHN 




A COMPLETE EXPOSITION OF 




ST. JOHN'S REVELATION 




BY 




John M. Grundy, Bible Student, 




CARTHAGE, MISSOURI. 



KEY TO THE 

Revelation of St. John 



BY 



JOHN M. GRUNDY, Bible Student, 

CARTHAGE, MISSOURI. 



A Complete Exposition of St. Jolin's Revelation. 



Jg^^When truth finally appears she is instinctively 
recognized by men. 



A careful study of Revelations through this little book will 

easily and infallibly lead to a thorough knowledge 

of the subject. 



i-V /tr>W' h\ «nc^-KtA^*A^OUv 



Copyright applied fonin the ofl&ce of Librarian of Congress, 
Washington, D. C, 1897 A. D. 



fEB13190Q ^C2,?Z'^ 




St-U JNO COPY, 



57279 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 

It is said that manj years ago, in Egypt, there was un- 
erthed by antiquarians a many roomed building, called the 
Labyrinth. So numerous were the rooms, and so intricate the 
passages that he who went in without some means of retracing 
his steps, found himself inextricably lost, but if, when he 
started in, he took the precaution to tie a string at the door 
and unwind the ball as the different rooms and passages were 
explored, he could easily retrace his steps by following the 
string back to the door. 

Revelations is a Labyrinth, and many have been the 
expositors and Biblical students who have been lost in its intri- 
cacies; simply because they did not observe that at its door was 
a cord which, taken hold of, by the hand, invest ig at ion ^ and 
followed, would easily, and infallibly, lead them to a perfect 
knowledge of truths recorded therein. That cord has three 
strands. The first is of what does Revelations treat, the 
second is the scheme or plan of Revelations, and the third is a 
perfect understanding of the imagery and figurative language 
in which it is written. Without a knowledge of any one of 
these three, success in the study of Revelations is impossible, 
but knowing these, it can be as easily understood, and its 
truths as successfully traced, as can be those of any ordinary 
book. 

8EG j^4D UOr'/f 






KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 



iP 
<i 

(^ 

:^ INTKODUCTION TO REVELATIONS. 

What is Revelations? For what purpose was it given? 
Revelations is the history of the establishing of the universal 
kingdom of Christy for which he taught his disciples to pray, 
for which the church has, in every age of the world, looked, 
and which the prophets fortold. 

That kingdom was to be established through the faithful 
• efforts and suffering of the church in preaching the gospel, 
i When the youthful Christian Church first began to spread the 
1 gospel, the world was under the dominion of Satan, and his 
rule is called, in Revelations, Babel, but through the efforts of 
the Church, there came a time when Babylon ceased to dominate 
the earth, and the dominion of the gospel, called Armageddon 
in Revelations, began This change occurred in 1798 A. D., 
when the 1260 years of the papacy w^ere ended, v^hen the beast 
Atheism fell, and the two witnesses — Old and New Testaments 
— ascended up to Heaven in a cloud, or in other words the 
Bible, and the truths it contains, became the dominant ruling 
powder on earth. This dominancy of the gospel is to go on in- 
creasing in power, until it crushes and utterly destroys all the 
rule of man on earth, and only the law of God rules the world ; 
every government now on earth will, therefore, be demolished, 
and the kingdom of Christ rule the world ^^from the river even 
unto the ends of the earth." 

This history God gave to the Church, before hand, 
through Revelations. Church history is therefore Revelations 
divested of its figurative language. 



Scheme of Revelations. 

Revelations has 



It has 



And three divis 
ions the 



22 CHAPTERS. 



12 VISIONS. 



Vv 



Admonitory Division. 

CHAPS. I, II, III. 

One Vision. 



Tims Historical Dirision. 

NEXT 17 CHAPS, 

Ten Visions. 



Historical Triumphant Division 

CHAPS. XXI, XXII. 

One Vision. 



Time Historical Division has three Axial visions. 
These have companion visions, ist Axial, the vision of 
the Seals, Chap IV, V, VI, a general history of the 
church through time. Companion vision. Chap. VII. 



J 



2nd Axial vision, the Trumpets, Chap. VIII-IX, 
History of vv^hat men did for or against the gospel. 
Companion visions two; Chap. X and XL 



3rd Axial vision, the Vials, Chap. XV, XVI. The 
wrath of God poured out on the opposition. Com- 
panion visions four, t. Introductory showing why the 
wrath of God should be poured out, and relating the 
means God employed to pour out the seventh vial, viz : an 
aggressive church Chap. XII, XIII, XIV. i, Showing 
the judgment of the great vs^hore, Babylon, and explain- 
ing particularly of the fourth beast; Chap. XVII. i, 
A lament for great Babylon, on whom the vials were 
poured. Chap XVIII, and a song of thanksgiving from 
the church that they were poured out, and relating the 
means, Chap. XIX, and i, Describing the result of the 
pouring out of the vials, viz: the millenium, and the utter 
destruction of wickedness and opposition ; Chap. XX. 



T 



Each Axial vision is divided into seven parts; each 
relating the history of one division of time, and the 
several divisions are cotemporary with each other, that 
is a division of the Seals, a division of the Trumpets, 
and a division of the vials, relate the history of the 
same division of time. The companion visions to these 
Axial visions, are explanatory of them. 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 



Generalization of St. John's Revelation. 

Christ came to earth to redeem man from the penalty of 
sin and to establish here a government in which the will of 
God will be done as it is in heaven. Revelations is the story 
of the setting up of the kingdom, and the opposition Satan 
made to its establishment. It particularly describes the means 
he employed to defeat the progress of the gospel, viz: The 
four beasts, Paganism, Catholicism, Atheism, and Judaism, 
and tells how the Church, through Christ, overcame him and 
his emisaries, and established the kingdom. 

Christ's Means Setting- Up the Kingdom. 

Christ's means of conquering the world of sin and opposi- 
tion and establishing the kingdom, was the Christian Church, 
the neucleus of which was the seven churches in Asia, to whom 
this revelation was sent. These and their extension, were his 
army to battle against sin and establish his universal kingdom. 
This Church is represented, chap, vi, 2, as a white horse 
whose rider carried a bow, — the gospel of truth — going forth 
conquering, and to conquer. It is a significant fact that his 
conquering career has never received a check. Satan has 
opposed beasts, powers and principalities, to the church, and 
deluged the earth with the blood of her martyrs, but still the 
sturdy white horse has marched grandly on, and will march on 
until all sin, and opposition to the law of God is destroyed, 
and man is safely housed in the city of the New Jerusalem — 
God's government on the earth after time. 

Satan's Means of Opposing- Christ. 

Satan opposed Christ through four vehicles called beasts. 
These were: i. Paganism; 2, Catholicism; 3, Atheism and 4, 
Judaism, or the Jewish money power. 

Each of these beasts were supported by temporal power, this 
being necessary because they could deal only with the bodies 
of Christ's followers, and were obliged to have temporal power 
to carry on their several persecutions. 

The pagan beast opposed Christ the longest, i. e,, from the 
building of Babel to about 538 A. D., when the Roman Cath- 
olic church took its place. It was supported by the six great 
empires, Assyria, Egypt, Babylon, Medo, Persian empire, 
Macedonian empire, and the Roman empire. These, together 
with the papacy, form the seven heads of the pagan beast, and 
also of the papal beast. Chap, xii : 3 and xiii: i, 2. 

The papacy was supported by the later Roman Emper- 
ors and Medieval and modern Europe. The latter constitutes 
the ten horns of the pagan and Catholic beast. 

It is said. Chap, xii: '^There was war in Heaven," i. e. in 
the power or government then dominant on the earth, which 
was the rule spiritually of paganism or 3abel; Heaven mean- 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN, 



ing that which is exalted or dominant, in this place. Michael 
and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon 
fought, and his angels, and prevailed not, neither was their 
place found in heaven any more. Literally, Christ and the 
Church, fought against the Devil and paganism, and beat them 
so that paganism was not the dominant religion of the world 
any more. 

When Satan found himself beaten in open warfare, he 
resorted to policy and gradually compounding the doctrines of 
paganism with those of Christianity, established by 538 the 
Roman Catholic Church. With this he deceived those who 
worshiped in the court of the temple, i. e., those who were either 
not Christians at all, or at best only weak or formal Christians, 
and denominated the third part of men, to distinguish them 
from those who worshiped in the temple and at its altar, or 
true Christians^ and made of it the most formidable engine of 
opposition to Christ's cause the Christian Church has ever 
known. 

The third beast. Atheism, was in particular supported by 
France, and during the French revolution prohibited the Bible 
and set up the worship of reason. This was the crowning act 
of the dominancy of Babel. Thus far Satan could come, but 
no farther; his rule ceased to dominate the earth, and Arma- 
geddon, or the empire of the gospel which Armageddon means, 
began its eternal, universal, sway of the earth, i. e. the tw^o 
witnesses — Old and New Testaments — ascended up to heaven 
in a cloud, a cloud of storm, wrath, and destruction to the 
enemies of Christ, but a cloud of peace and shelter to his 
followers. 

The fourth beast, Judaism — Jewish money power — will be 
supported by modern Europe. It is called in Rev. XVII: 11, 
'^The beast that was, that is not, and yet is," which is a per- 
fect description of Judaism, for the Mosaical or Israellitish 
church, was, till Christ came and by offering himself for sin 
caused the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, when it was not 
in God's eyes, but to the Jew it still is; and he has never relin- 
quished for a moment the idea that an earthly Messiah will 
come and gather the Jews into a nation once more, and give to 
them the rule and supremacy of the earth. 

We know that it will do this through the power of wealth, 
for Chap. XIII: 18, the number of the two horned beast— the 
two horns represent the lamb of the sacrifice — is given as 666 
which is, in the Roman notation, Del. XVI, the letters from 
which they formed their denominations, and by this system 
reads: 

Denominational Beast: By the Arabic system 666=2x3 
xioo-io-i or two X three, multiplied by the denominational 
ratio loo-io-i. Two means, in the typical numbering of the. 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 



Bible, MAN, three stands for god and by this system 666 would 
read man god by the power of denomination or wealth. Or 
MAN — Mesiah — god power through denomination or wealth. 

This beast will set up an universal empire over the world, 
for in Rev. XVII: lo, after stating that there were seven heads, 
or empires, which had dominated or were to dominate the 
earth, it distinctly says in verse ii, ^^And the beast that was, 
that is not, and yet is, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, 
and cometh out of the bottomless pit, i. e. is no longer God's 
instrument but the Devil's, and goeth into perdition, i. e. is to 
be destroyed. 

It is so like the papacy in its characters and aims, that it is 
said to be the image of the be^st that had a wound by a sword 
and did live. This image will consist, in that it will be an 
apostate power, and have a spiritual head or earthly Messiah. 
Who this Messiah will be, is of course a matter of conjecture, 
but as he is to be the head of the money power we may well 
expect it to be the richest of their number. 

Scheme of Kevelations. 

Revelations is divided into three parts. The first part 
consists mainly of admonition to the churches in Asia, and 
may therefore, be called the admonitory division. This 
division embraces the first three chapters. The second divis- 
ion embraces the next seventeen chapters, and gives the history 
of the establishing of the kingdom. It covers the time from 
Christ, or rather from the day of Pentecost until the end of 
time, and may properly be called the time historical division. 
The third division tells what the kingdom was like after time, 
and describes the happy state of the blessed, therein. It is the 
writing on the back of the book of seven seals. 

Of the Twelve Visions of Kevelations. 

Revelations consists, not of one vision relating con- 
secutive events, but of twelve visions or views. 

The first vision takes up the whole of the Admonitory 
divisions, and admonishes the seven churches in Asia to 
greater diligence and holiness, as by these they were to con- 
quer. They had not realized until now, that they, through the 
power of God, were to overcome the world; they thought 
Christ would soon return, and by his Godly might strike down 
the world of sin, and when persecutions thickened around 
them, they turned their terrified eyes toward the heavens to see 
if they could discern the signs of his coming. The church 
thought Christ would soon return from his remark, ^^This 
generation shall not pass away until all these things be 
fullfiUed," meaning spiritual generation, or that his church 
militant should be until all was fulfilled. They thought he 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 



meant physical generation. Had Christ come the way they 
expected, it would have been Christ coming in front, or from 
the way they were looking, but he came in this vision, Chap. 
I: lo, behind St. John, and told him that his kingdom must be 
set up through the efforts and faithfulness of his church, and 
that too, under much tribulation and with great opposition. 
This was Christ coming from behind or from a direction in 
which they were not looking. 

Of the Next Ten Visions. 

The next ten visions relate the history of the church and 
its opposers in their battle for the dominion of the earth, 
through time, beginning at Christ, and ending with the general 
judgment. These ten visions constitute the whole of the 
second or time historical division. Each of the visions are 
from a different point of view, and the ten visions give a per- 
fect view from all sides, of the events of the intervening time. 
Ten views are given, because ten in the Bible is the numerical 
expression for perfect; and so perfect is the picture given by 
these ten visions, that if one is at a loss to understand anything 
found in one vision he has only to look in the other visions 
when its meaning will be made perfectly plain. Also Revel- 
ations is complete in itself, and does not need to be explained 
by Daniel nor the prophecies in the gospels. 

Vision 1, Chap. IV, V, VI— The Seals. 

The first vision of the ten is of the seals. It divides time 
from Christ to the end of the world, into seven divisions or 
periods, each of which represen s some phase of the action of 
the church or the opposition through that time. Of each of 
these it gives a general history, and each of these divisions is 
cotemporary with the vision of the same number in the 
vision of the vials, and also of the trumpets; they each being 
divided into seven similar divisions. 

The Axis of Revelations. 

(The three cotemporary visions.) 

The vision of the seals, the visions of the trumpets and the 
vision of the vials constitute the axis of Revelations. They 
contain the w^hole history of Reveations in general form. 
Their seven periods are cotemporary. 

Each of these axial visions has its companion vision, or 
visions, for the purpose of giving special features, or of render- 
ing the history in the axial visions more plain. The seals have 
one companion vision, the trumpets have two companion 
visions, and the vials have four companion visions. 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 



Vision II, Chap. VII. 

(Companion to the Seals.) 

Vision two relates that God rendered futile, or restrained 
the efforts of the four formsof opposition^ Paganism^ Catholic- 
ism, Atheism, and Judaism — called angels — to crush the 
church. 

The church is here represented in its two divisions, pastors 
and members. The 144,000 are the ministers, and does not 
mean therefore that only that number was saved of all Israel, 
but this: 10 means perfect in Revelations, and a cube means 
perfect from every point of view. The twelve tribes of Israel 
were the custodians of the gospel under the old dispensation. 
Under the new dispensation Christ delivered the gospel into the 
care of the twelve apostles, and made them its minsters and 
custodians. These by their preaching greatly multiplied the 
original twelve, in short multiplied twelve by twelve, 144= but 
this 144, or Christ's ministers, dared and suffered all things for 
his sake, or were perfect, w^hich fact is stated by saying that 
they were 1000 or the cube of the perfect number 10, whence 
the expression 144,000 to represent Christ's perfect ministry. 

The innumerable company is the membership of the 
church. This vision is given between the sixth and seven 
seals of vision one, division two, probably to satisfy St. John's 
curiosity as to what would give the church so much trouble as 
related in the seals and as to what the outcome should be. 

Vision III.— The Trumpets.— Chaps. VIII, IX. 

(Second Axial Vision.) 

This vision relates what men did for or against the gospel 
in each of the seven periods. Trumpets are used to designate 
its periods, because the trumpet is used to call men into action. 
It is the instrument of war, and this vision relates that men 
were called to act. Its companion visions are the fourth 
vision. Chap. X, and the fifth vision. Chap. XI, of Div. II. 

Vision IV, Chap. X. 

(First Companion to Vision of Trumpets.) 

This vision was given especially for St. John's benefit and 
the world was not to know all it related; but as thunders are 
used in Revelations for emphasis or to express that anything is 
made perfectly plain to the understanding, we may rest assured 
that St. John received in this vision a revelation the meaning 
of which it was impossible for him to misunderstand. The 
angel of the first verse is prophecy. 



!• KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 

Vision V, Chap. XI. 

(2d Companion Vision to Vision of the Trumpets.) 
The first six verses of this vision give a running history of 
papal oppressions during the 1260 years. 

The reed like a rod was the measure affliction. It v^^as 
1260 years long, the length of papal oppression which it 
measured. At its end Babel lost its dominance and Armageddon 
began^ or the kingdom of Christ became dominant. The 
change took place 1798 A. D., when the two witnesses (verse 
12) heard a voice from heaven saying, ^^Come up hither," or 
in plain terms, God said let the Bible of the Old and New Testa- 
ments become the daminant power on earth. 

Vision VI, Chaps. XII, XIII, XIV. 

Introductory to Vials. 

Vision six shows the church — the woman clothed with the 
sun, etc. — and three of the beasts that opposed her, viz : Pagan- 
ism, Catholicism Judaism, and presents the means of the 
destruction of these beasts, Chap. XIV, viz: A church spread 
all over the world and sounding God's praise like the voice of 
many waters — or with the voice of many people, which waters 
mean — verse 1, 2, 3, and the preaching of the gospel of truth, 
justice and right, by which every wrong was crushed through 
the weight of popular opinion, verse 6, 7, 8. It relates in jus- 
tice to God's mercy, the wrongs the three beasts of opposition 
had done his church — ie. the woman — and that for this he 
destroyed them with the vials of his wrath. 

Vision VII, Chap. XV, XVI.— Third Axial Vision. 

What God did to Opposers of the Gospel. 

This vision tells the form of vengeance God took on 
opposers of the gospel in each of the seven periods. These 
vials are called last plagues, although poured out at intervals, 
during many hundreds of years, because with them, the power 
of sin will be utterly destroyed, so there will never need be any 
more plagues — God sent many plagues to men in other dis- 
pensations. 

Vision VIII, Chap. XVII. 

Second Companion to Vision of Vials. 

Vision 8 shows the judgment of the great whore Babylon, 
and explains in verse 3 the origin of apostacy. It shows the 
woman or apostacy riding the scarlet beast of the sacrifice, 
and wearing the tabernacle jewels, and arrayed in two of its 
colors, the purple which represents royalty, and the scarlet 
which stands for sacrifice, but lacking the blue which means 
truth. She has also the golden cnp of the gospel in her hand 
from which instead of truth, she dispensed the waters of 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 



apostate doctrine. Apostacv always makes use of gospel 
means to oppose the gospel, anything else is open opposition. 
Catholicism rode the scarlet beast of the sacrifice and used 
gospel instruments to compass its ends, and Judaism will do 
the same. The name of the beast which the woman rode is 
given in verse 8 and n. It is the beast that was, that is 
NOT, AND YET IS, or the Israelittish church and people who were 
the church of God until their mission was ended and the 
Christian church established, when it ceased to exist in God's 
eyes, but has never ceased to be in the mind of the Jew, and 
they look as confidently for the coming of the Messiah as ever, 
and for that coming keep alive their faith and preserve their 
nationality. Verses 9-1 1 after saying that there had been six 
great empires on earth, and that the seventh — Catholicism — 
was to come, says distinctly and plainly, verse 11: ^'And the 
beast that was, that is not, and yet is, he is the eight head, and 
is of the seven, or the eighth great monarchy on the earth. 

This chapter, verse 5, speaks of the mystery of apostacy. It 
is this. After the fall of man, God promised him a Saviour 
who should set up a kingdom in which all that men had lost by 
the fall should be restored. It became the ambition of many 
men to personate this Saviour and nations longed to exert their 
sway over the whole world. For this cause Cain killed Abel, 
He, as the eldest son, was the legitimate high preist of the 
family, and was taught to believe he might be that seed of the 
woman who was to crush the serpent's head, and under his 
preisthood he contemplated setting up the looked for universal 
empire. When God rejected him, his dream was at an end, 
and fearing Abel might become the mighty prince he had 
wished to be, he slew him in his wrath and went out from the 
presence of the Lord — ceased to be his priest — to become the 
ruler over sin as God had said. Gen. 4:7. To do this he went 
out on the east of Eden — i. e. got between man and his God — to 
the land of Nod — which means to beckon — and said to men 
go not through the gate of the law and the sacrifice — the two 
cherubim who kept the way of the tree of life on the east of 
Eden — Come to me. I will in my government give you all you 
seek and you can still remain at enmity with God. This was 
the origin of empire and apostacy, from Paganism to Judaism, 
and because of this the woman of Chap. XVII, who is 
apostacy, is shown riding the scarlet beast of the sacrifice, 
seated on the heads of empire, carrying the golden cup of the 
gospel, adorned with the tabernacle jewels, and clad in two of 
its colors; the purple which means royalty, the scarlet which 
represents sacrifice, but lacking the blue or truth, i. e., she was 
false. See Exodus XXXVI, 8. 



12 KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 

Vision 9, Chapters XVIII, XIX, Third Compan- 
ion to Vials. 

Vision nine is a lament for great Babylon, from those who 
have profited bj her; Chap. XVIII, and a song of thanksgiving 
to God, from his people, that he has destroyed Babylon, Chap. 
XIX, which still further relates the destruction of the Jewish 
money power by Christ, his church, and all those who held 
with them in the doctrines of justice and right, Ver. 11-21. 

Vision 10, Chap.jXV, Fourth Companion to Vials. 

Vision ten shows us the result of the out pouring of the 
Vials, namely opposition to the kingdom utterly destroyed, 
the devil chained, Christ's kingdom fully established, and the 
race under the guiding and governing hand of God's resur- 
rected saints, going on to perfection and confirmation during 
a thousand years which we call the millenium. 

revision 3, Vision 1, Chaps. XXI, XXII. 

Historical triumphant division. 

The one vision of this division, relates that God's govern- 
ment, called the New Jerusalem, descended from heaven to 
earth, and describes that government,_and ^the happy state of 
the church triumphant. 

This fills the number, 12, of visions in Revelations, and we 
have the plan of Revelations as given in the diagram at the 
beginning of the key, viz: 

Scheme of Revelations. 

Revelations is divided into three divisions, viz: 

1. The Admonitory division. Chaps. I-II-III. 

2. The Time Historical division, next 17 chapters, 

3. The Historical Triumphant division. Chaps. XXI-XXII. 

Visions. 

It has twelve visions. 

One in the first division. 
Ten in the second division. 
One in the third division. 

Axial and Companion Vision. 

It has three Axial visions, 

1. The Seals, Chaps. IV, V, VI. 

2. The Trumpets, Chaps. VIII, IX. 

3. The Vials, Chaps. XV, XVI— All in the Time 

Historical division. 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 13 

Companion Vision. 

The Seals have one companion vision, Chap. VII. 

The Trumpets have tw^o companion visions. Chap X and 
Chap XI. 

The Vials have four companion visions. Chaps. XII, XIII, 
XIV; Chaps. XVII, XVIII, XIX, and Chap. XX. 

Subject of Kevelations. 

Revelations treats of a kingdom being set up and the oppo- 
sition thereto. 

The Forces Engagred. 

Chirst and the Christian Church — the v^rhite horse and his 
rider — on one side, backed by the Omnipotent God and the 
government of the universe, and on the other side the devil, 
with four engines, paganism. Popery, Atheism, and Judaism, 
backed by temporal power exerted with the most devilish 
ingenuity. 

The Out Come. 

Christ wins, and Satan, his beasts and followers are cast 
into hell. 

Rise, ^Climax and Decline. 

Opposition to the Church contiuualy increased in fury 
until the French Revolution, ^when the twelve hundred and 
sixty years being ended, pt^hasj^rapidly declined. ^Opposition 
reached its climax ih the entire suppression of the scriptures in 
France and the establishment of the worship of reason, but in 
1798 A. D. Christs kingdom became dominant, — the^iBible 
ascended up to heaven,' Chap. XI, ver. 12 and 15 — since, which 
time opposition to the gospel, and the various wrongs to 
humanity, have been rapidly destroyed, and the adjuncts of 
Christ's kingdom, as Bible and ^.Missionary Societies, an 
aggressive church, etc., have been rapidly set up. 

Woes. 

Papal oppressions during the dark ages, about the time of 
Tetzel, were the first woe. The French revolution was the 
second woe, and the third woe will be when the Jewish money 
power is destroyed and all the governments of the world go 
down, as well as every power that oppresses men or sets one 
man above another. These are woes to the opposition only. 

Prophecies to he Fulfilled. 

PROPHECY I, REV. IX I I3-2O. 

At the demand of Christian people the world over — the 
voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before 
God, which is the church in its capacity of demanding justice, 
altar meaning justice. The four Christian powers Russia, 



14 KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 

England; France and Gernianj will be loosed and Mohamed- 
ism — the religion of the Euphrates near which it had its birth, 
will be dried up or destroyed. This drying up process has 
been going on all through the sixth seal. 

PROPHECY 2, CHAP. XIII, VERSES I5-I7. 

The Jewish money power will set up their univeral rule of 
the Jews through the financial system of the world, 

PROPHECY 3, CHAP. XVI: 13, 14. 

Three unlawful means of forwarding the interests of the 
money power will be employed by it to secure the cooperation 
of the governments of earth, and tne rich, prominent, and 
powerful in every department of life. 

When we see these, the time until Christ destroys all oppo- 
sition to his rule is short, — see Rev. XVI: 13-16. 

PROPHECY 4, CHAP. XVI : I7-2I. 

The money power will be destroyed, and every govern- 
ment on earth melt away before the brightness of the appear- 
ing of the kingdom of Christ. 

Armageddon. 

Armageddon, or Empire of the Gospel, became dominant 
in 1798, as has been stated in previous pages, but as a thorough 
understanding of this fact is very important, as through a mis- 
understanding of it, very grevious errors have been made in 
the interpretation of the appocalyptic prophecies, especially 
those of Daniel, we will try to make the tact very plain. 

Christ pointed to this time very explicitly in Math. XXIV: 
30, the sign of the son of man being the kingdom set up in 
power. In the 31st verse, Christ tells of the angels of his gov- 
ernment, the Bible, missionaries, an aggressive church, etc.. 
which after the founding of the Bible and. missionary societies, 
and the aggressive movement of the church about Wesley's 
time, went to every part of the world, not secretly, and with 
fear and trembling, as they did when Babel dominated the 
world, but with the sound of a trumpet, openly and fearlessly, 
because under the protection of the mighty armageddon. 
Mark foretells the same. Chap. XIII, 26, 27, and Luke XXI, 
27, fortells the coming of the kingdom in its dominance. 

All the prophecies of Daniel relating to the coming of 
Christ's kingdom fall due of fullfillment near the date 1798 A. 
D. Dan., Chap. VIII: 14, heard one saint say to another that 
the sanctuary should be cleansed in 2300 days — years. The 
2300 years began the third year of Belshazzar, about 550 B. C, 
and end therefore, about 1750 A. D., the time when that great 
aggressive movement of the church, marked by the establish- 
ment of Methodism began, which was finally to sweep away 
every vestige of opposition to Christ — i. e. cleanse the sanctu- 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OP ST. JOHN. i^ 



arj. Daniels 1290 days — jears — Chap. XII: ii, date from the 
establishment of the papacy — the abomination of desolation, 
ver. II — 538 A. D., and ended 1828 A. D.. the time when those 
two most important adjuncts of Christ's kingdom, the Bible 
and the missionary society, were firmly established; and his 
1335 days — years — begin also 538 A. D., and end 1873 A- D. 
about the time, when, after the infallibility of the Pope had 
been declared, thus healing the deadly wound given the papacy 
in 1798 when Napolean Bonaparte took the Pope prisoner, 
Rev. XIII: 3, the French Empire, his main support collapsed, 
and he became a subject of Italy and died in voluntary seclus- 
ion. Dan. II, 44, after describing the toes of the image — the 
ten horns of Rev. — in the two preceeding verses says: "In the 
days of those kings — not after them — the God of heaven shall 
set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, but it will 
break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms. Dan. VII: 
9-12, relates that the ancient of days — law of God — did sit and 
thousands ministered unto him — forwarded the teaching and 
keeping of God's law — and that numerous others stood before 
him — gave at least a tacit obedience to God law — and that the 
books of right and justice were opened and he judged between 
right and wrong in the earth, until every government was 
destroyed, when Christ came and they brought him near 
before the Ancient of days, who delivered up the thrown to 
him. After the Ancient of Days had taken the throne, the 
horn Catholicism, spoke the great swelling words of verse 11. 
These were the declaration of the Pope's infallibility, which 
was made about 1870 A. D., while the rule of the Ancient of 
Days began in dominance 1798 A. D. 

These prophecies plainly show that Daniel saw by Revela- 
tions, the kingdom of Christ set up under the reign of God's 
law, that he saw the means by which it was carried to a posi- 
tion whence Christ could reign in person, viz: an aggressive 
church; that he saw the instruments through which the church 
worked; the Bible and missionary, that he saw the Pope finally 
and forever deprived of temporal power; that he saw the 
millenium began, and finally that God showed him the king- 
dom after time. 



PART SECOND. 



Imagery and Figures of Each Vision Explained. 

Having given a compendium of Revelations, and its plan 
or scheme, it now remains only to explain its imagery and 
figurative language — the third strand in the guiding chord, see 
introduction — when any one having a tolerably fair secular and 
religious historical knowledge, can easily understand this, the 
grandest, the most beautiful, and to us, if such a remark may 
be made, the most important of the prophetical books. 

DIVISION I, 

Figures and Imagery Explained, — Admonitory 
Division, Chapter I, II, III. 

VISION I, CHAPTER I, II, III. 

Verse i. God gave this Revelation to Christ, to show to 
his servants things which must shortly come to pass. So we 
see Revelations was not to be a sealed book, but was given for 
us to understand. Christ sent the Revelation to St. John by 
the hand of his angel, or prophecy. Blessed is he that readeth 
and keepeth the words of this prophecy, for the time is at hand 
— the first events were even then transpiring. 

Verses 4-15. John was in the spirit on the Lord's day — 
our Sunday — and heard behind him a great voice as of a trum- 
pet — trumpets are used to call men to act, and this voice called 
St. John to recieve, write and send to the seven churches in 
Asia the Revelations of St. John. The voice was behind him, 
because Christ came to inform the church that the kingdom 
must be set up through their own patience and labor for him. 
Until now they had believed that he would miraculously set it 
up by the power of God. This was Christ's kingdom coming 
in a different way from which they were looking, or from 
behind. John tutned to see who had spoken and saw seven 
golden candlesticks — the seven churches in Asia and called 
candlesticks, because the office of a church is to hold up to the 
world the light of the word of God, and golden because of the 
peculiar fitness of the church for this work. In the midst of 
the candlesticks John saw Christ, clad with authority and 
power for the work of taking the world and setting up the 
kingdom. He was girt about the breasts, — the reputed seal of 
the passions — with the golden girdle of love. His head and 
hairs — thoughts and acts — were white as wool or snow, i. e. 
perfectly righteous; his eyes like a flame of fire — to see and 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 17 



destroy sin and the sinner if incorrigible, — his feet like fine 
brass, as if thej burned in a furnace, that is his means of pro- 
gression in taking the world, viz: the church was precious like 
brass in that it was perfectly adapted to the work, and because 
of its holiness. That they burned as in a furnace, meant that 
the church in doing his work would pass through the furnace of 
affliction. His voice as the sound of many waters. The church 
in its office of proclaiming the gospel, is His voice or spokes- 
man, and it should preach the gospel in every tongue, and its 
ministers be of everg people — i. e. waters — under heaven. 

Verse 16. C-hrist had in his right hand seven stars — the 
ministers or heads of the seven churches in Asia. Out of his 
mouth went a sharp two edged sword — the sword which the 
spirit wields is the word of God, — one edge is to convert sin- 
ners with and the other to destroy them if incorrigible. His 
countenance shone as the sun in its strength, i. e. in Christ 
was the light that was to illuminate the spiritual darkness of 
the world and bring the perfect day of obedience to the law of 
God. That the seven stars were in his right hand meant that 
Christ was going to immediately throw them into the action; 
i. e. the preaching of the word, by which the kingdom should 
be set up was to commence at once. The whole picture is, 
Christ in the midst of His church, his means of action, armed 
with his weapons of war, about to begin the contest for the 
government of the world. 

Verses 17, 18, 19. John was greatly overcome by the vision 
but Christ laid his right hand — the hand of action — upon him 
and said, ^^Fear not, I am he that created all things, or the 
first, I am he that will survive all material things, therefore the 
last, and I am he that was resurrected from the dead, and I am 
alive for evermore and have therefore the power to accomplish 
all that I have undertaken; write fearlessly, therefore, all the 
words of the revelation I am about to make to you.'' 

The remainder of this vision is easily understood. It ad- 
monishes the churches to holiness, as by that they were to win, 
and recites the rewards of dilligence and well doing in the 
cause of Christ, and the penalties for the reverse, even as a 
leader standing among his troops before the battle might say 
to one, ^^When the victory is won you shall have a kingdom, 
and you shall rule a city, and you shall be prime minister, etc. 

The seven spirits before the throne, verse 4, is the spirit of 
God in the seven periods into which the three axial visions are 
divided. The white stone, Chap. H: 17, is equivalent to say- 
ing I will give him a new, pure heart with the name, child of 
God written in it. Death, Chap. II: 23, is spiritual death; the 
key of David, Chap. Ill, verse 7, is the messiah ship ; pure gold 
verse 18, is pure holiness, and white raiment is righteousness* 



i8 KEX TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 

DIVISION II. 
Time Historical Division— Chapters IV, XX. 

TEN VISIONS, THREE OF WHICH ARE AXIAL. 

In this division Babel is dominant until 1798, Armegeddon 
dominated afterwards. (Before reading farther see dictionary 
of typical nnmbers at end of key.) 

Vision 1, Chap. IV. 

Verse 1-3. Again the trumpet calls John to act. Come 
up hither, into the spirit, and I will shew thee things which 
must be hereafter. John went up, the door of Revelation 
verse i, was opened in heaven and he saw a throne set, and on 
the throne one sat, God, the power that was to bring success and 
victory, and therefore the jewel of salvation, which fact is 
described in verse 3 by saying that he was like a jasper and a 
sardine stone to look upon. Round about the throne a rain- 
bow. God's promise that the church should no more be over- 
whelmed by the deluge of sin, but should be victorious over sin 
and opposition. Like an emerald — i. e. a precious promise. 

Verse 4. In the economy of the church God provided places 
for twelve tribes and twelve apostles, the first twelve to be the 
ministers and custodians of the gospel in the old dispensation, 
and the gates of the new dispensation; and the second twelve 
to be the first ministers of the new dispensation, and the 
foundations of its ministerial system. These places were the 
seats, and they who sat upon them, the twelve tribes and the 
twelve apostles. These elders were clothed in white — ie. 
righteousness — and wore crowns of gold — were invested with 
necessary and valuable authority to rule in the church 

Verse 5. Out of the throne proceeded lightnings — acts — 
thunderings — mighty, unmistakable declarations, commands, 
etc. — and voices. These were for proclamation, to declare the 
future, to sentence, to command, reward, etc., ie. the voice of 
a throne. And seven lamps of fire — God's spirit as it acted on 
humanity during the seven periods, and called lamps of fire 
because they would burn up sin either through conversion, or 
by destroyiug the sinner if incorrigible. 

Verse 6. Before the throne a sea of glass. Sea means 
humanity bounded by the shores of government, or of time. 
This sea is the humanity on which the seven lamps of fire 
were to act. It is said to be glass, because one can see through 
glass, and God enabled John to see the future of this humanity 
as through clear glass. And in the midst of the throne four 
beasts. These were the cherubim, viz: the law, the sacrifice, 
and the churches of the old and the new dispensation, called 
beasts because the vehicles or means by which God brought 
salvation to men. As the action of these beasts toward 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 19 



humanity depended entirely on whether they accepted the sacri- 
fice and became God's children, or the reverse, these beasts 
were equipped with eyes to observe their actions. » 

Verse 7. The law alone devours the sinner like a lion; 
the calf represents the animal sacrifices of the church of the 
old dispensation; the face of a man stands for the sacrifice 
which Christ made for sin, and the Christian church is like an 
eagle in two respects; first it swoops down on sin like an 
eagle on the prey, and second in its powers of flight as shown 
on the day of Pentecost, when with one swoop of its wings it 
carried the gospel to earth's remotest bounds. In short, its 
mission is to be a carrier of the gospel, and it has grandly per- 
formed its mission. 

Verse 8. The four beasts had each of them six wings. 
The two cherubim, or beasts, that stood on the ends of the 
mercy seat — i. e. the law and the sacrifice — had but two wings 
each. These were for flying. As law flew to devour the sin- 
ner, sacrifice flew to offer herself in his place; their inner 
wings met, law was satisfied and beneath their outstretched 
wings man saw the mercy seat. But when occasion required 
the cherubim had more wings. Thus in Isaiah, Chap. VI, 
where the prophet was sent to an incorrigible people who 
were to be destroyed, they had six wings each; two to cover 
their feet, i. e. God would remove his church from those peo- 
ple, two to cover their face, i. e. God no longer extended his 
mercy to them but would pour out wrath, and two for flxying as 
usual. The beasts of verse 8 were similarly equipped and for 
the same purposes. During the persecutions related of in Rev- 
elations, God took the church from her persecutors at one 
time, for 1260 years, i. e. the woman — the church — fled into the 
wilderness for that length of time, then the beasts covered 
their feet. When the vials of wrath were poured out, the woes 
descended and mercy was no longer granted, they covered 
their faces — and were full of eyes within. These observed the 
justice of their own actions toward men, or tersely said they 
looked within. If men accepted the sacrifice, God granted 
them life and the beasts cried: ^^Holy! holy! Lord God 
Almighty, thou hast granted mercy and yet regarded the 
sacredness of law." If they spurned the sacrifice and died, 
they still cried, ^""Holy! Lord God Almighty, he has sinned 
and must die." In short, the institution of the law, the sacri- 
fice, and the church for the salvation of men, who were at 
enmity with God, attests continually to his goodness, mercy 
and holiness. 

Verses 9-1 1. And when those beasts give glory to him 
who sat on the throne, the four and twenty elders cast their 
crowns, etc. That is they laid their authority at his teet and 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 



said: ^^In thj acts toward men, we claim no authority _, of 
right, but hold it for thy pleasure, for like thy other crea- 
tures we were made for thy glory." 

The view given in Chap. IV is that of God seated on his 
throne supported by the beasts, which made it possible to 
establish a throne among men, and surrounded by the minis- 
try of the church — the elders — through whom it was and is to 
be established, having the humanity among whom he will 
establish his throne — i. 'C. the sea of glass — before him, and 
about to give his revelation to Christ — the lamb — verses 5-7 of 
Chap. V — who sent and signified it by his angel prophecy 
to his servant John. See Chap. I: i. 

Chapter V. 

Verse i. And I saw in the right hand of him who sat on 
the throne a book. He who sat on the throne was God, and 
and the book the story of the setting up of the kingdom, m.ade 
known before hand through Revelations. Each seal was the 
history of the kingdom in a certain division of time, and the 
writing on the back side the story of the kingdom after time. 

Verse 2. I saw a strong angel, etc. The angel was the 
church in its anxious desire to know its future, asking, who can 
tell the future.'' 

Verse 3. No man could tell anything about the future of 
the church and the world, or even see the future. 

Verse 4. John wept because the future was veiled, and his 
sorrow was general in the church at that date of its history. 

Verse 5. The name of this elder was Levi. To them it 
was given to deliver the oracles of God. The lion of the tribe 
of Judah is Christ. He prevailed to open the book, or tell the 
future of the church, because he had undertaken the work of 
reedeeming the race, and everything necessary to that work 
was delivered into his hands, and revelation was one of these 
necessary means. 

Verse 6. This lamb was Christ, standing among his 
cherubim and the elders. The horns represent his power to 
forward his church during the seven periods, and his eyes his 
ability to foresee the future during the seven periods. They 
are, therefore, prophetical organs. 

Veres 7-1 1. Christ took the book — i. e. received his rev- 
elation from God as stated in Chap. I: i — and when he had so 
done, the church, its institutions, vehicles, etc., fell down and 
worshipped Christ with prayer and praise, and every creature 
God had made, gave to him glory, honor and praise, veres 

Chapter VI.— The Seals. 

SEAL I. — THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH GOING OUT TO BATTLE. 

Verse i. The opening of the first seal marks the begin- 
ning of Christian church history. It is that period in which 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 21 



the apostles and early christian ministers preached the gospel, 
and may be said to date from the day of Pentecost. 

Verse 2. The white horse is the Christian church, Christ 
is his rider and the gospel the bow. The crown is the insigna 
of Christ's kingship; and he and the charch went forth 
conquering, and to conquer, i. e. his career was to be one of 
unbroken success, and it is a significant fact that the white 
horse and his rider have never been worsted in battle, or ever 
received a check, and neve will until the last foe is swept 
from the field. 

The beast who says come and see, is the Christian church, 
or flying eagle, and the voice is said to be like thunder, to indi- 
cate that the church began its onslaught on Babel openly and 
boldly — not covertly or timidly — i. e. their attack was with the 
noise of thunder. 

Seal 2.— Pag^an Persecutions. 

Verses 3-4. The second seal is the second period in the 
history of the church. It is the period of general pagan perse- 
cution. It began with the stoning of Stephen and continued 
under the Roman emporers until about the time of Constan- 
tine, at which time Satan ceased from open warfare and sought 
to destroy the Christian church by corrupting her doctrines. 
During this period Christ's followers were slaughtered 
like animals, giving their bodies a sacrifice, rather than 
renounce the gospel. The beast who said, come and see, was 
the church of the old dispensation whose animal sacrifices to 
keep the gospel before the world were similar to the sacrifice 
which the early christians made of their bodies for the same 
purpose. The great sword was persecution. 

Seal 3."Catliolicisiii, 

Verses 5, 6. This is the third period of church history. 
The black horse is the Catholic church and faith, which Satan 
now used as a means — beast — with which to oppose the 
Christian church, the first beast — paganism — having failed. 
The balances are the insigna of a merchant and signify that 
the Catholic clergy made merchandise of wtiat purported to be 
the grace of God. 

Verse 6. The voice in thj midst of the four beasts, is the 
voice of the Catholic clergy. They are in the midst of the 
four beasts because they intrenched themselves for purposes 
of gain in the midst of the law, the sacrifice, and the two 
churches of the old and the new dispensations. A measure of 
wheat for a penny, etc., means: We will sell a measure of 
grace for money and see that you do nothing to take from us 
— the clergy — the oil and the wine. 



22 KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 

Seal 4r.— Spiritual Sickness and Death. 

Verses 7, 8. During this the fourth period, the effect of 
the apostate religion of the Cathoh'c church, the black horse is 
seen. The result of accepting it was spiritual sickness, which 
is represented bj the pale horse. Death sat on the horse, or in 
plain terms, this spiritual sickness resulted in spiritual death. 
Hell follow::d with him. The social and religious state of 
these people became such that it is likened to hell. And 
power was given them, etc^, means that these spiritually dead 
people instituted the papal persecutions against the Christian 
church. These extended over the fourth part of the earth, and 
were the most dreadful the church has ever known. The beast 
who said, come and see, was law. The meaning is this: See 
how these people spurn the sacrifice and crucify Christ anew 
in the person of his follow^ers and thus expose themselves to 
the vengeance of the law. 

Seal 5, Justice Demanded. 

Verses 9-1 1. In this period the souls of those who had 
been slain for Christ sake demanded justice. In other words 
the influences that brought the reformation, the cleansing of 
the sanctuary, which began about 1750 A. D. and the domi- 
nance of the gospel, by which opposition is to be destroyed, 
began powerfully to work. Vengence came at the end of the 
fifth seal when the Pope was taken by Bonaparte, the 1260 years 
of papal dominance ended, and Armageddon became dominaot 
in the earth. These souls are said to be under the altar, 
because the altar represents justice — i. e. the victim was burned 
on the altar to satisfy the demands of justice. These souls had 
been sacraticed unjustly, but they were covered by the altar — 
justice — and due vengence would be taken for their blood. 
White robes means their cause and demands were adjudged 
just, but those demands would be fully satisfied later on, when 
the cup of iniquity of the papacy was full. 

Seal 6— Armageddon or Empire of the Gospel 

Becomes Dominant. 

The sixth Seal or period began 1798 A. D., and from that 
date to the end of the world of opposition — not the end of the 
mundane sphere — is called in verse 17 the great day of God's 
wrath, because it has been, and is to be, one unbroken period 
of the destruction of wrong. How much wrong has been 
broken down since the sixth seal was opened. Atheism has 
fallen, the papacy has been reduced to the condition of a 
decrepit giant. The doctrine of the divine right of kings is no 
longer accepted. American slavery, the slave trade, and 
Russian serfdom have been destroyed. Mohamedism is being 
dried up, and the continents that sat in the region of the valley 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 23 



and the shadow of death, have been lighted up by the risen sun 
of the gospel, while there are but few places in the world where 
free thought, free speech, and the right to worship God accord- 
ing to the dictates of one's own conscience, is not guaranteed 
to men; and not jet has the great Armageddon ceased to 
destroy that which is opposed to God, till every wrong has 
ceased, until every go\ernment of men is stamped out beneath 
its iron heel, and the government of Christ extends over the 
whole earth. 

Verse 12. While the whole period covered by the sixth 
seal is a series of earthquakes by which wrong is shaken down 
and engulfed, St. John probably refers to that tremendous 
earthquake at its close when all the governments of earth will 
fall. 

Verse 13, The heavens of this verse represents the govern- 
ment of Babel, and that it departed as a scroll when it roiled 
together, means that it was gradually, though rapidly demol- 
ished, as a scroll is gradually rolled up. The sun, moon and 
stars represent the lights of that government. These disap- 
peared and it was left in darkness. Mountains and Islands are 
empires, and smaller governments. 

Verse 15 and 16. Those who tried to hide from the wrath 
of the lamb, were those of every station in life who were op- 
posed to right, and not God's people. These were assisting in 
the destruction of wrong, i. e. were the means by which God 
wrought its destruction. 

Verse 17. Means who that is opposed to God will be able to 
stand in this day. 

Seal 7— Millenium Beg^ins— Chap. VIII. 

Verse, i. And when he had opened the seventh seal there 
was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour, i. e. St. 
John received no more visions for about two weeks. 

Vision Two, Division 2, Chapter VII. 

(Companion Vision to Vision of the Seals.) 

This vision is interpolated between the sixth and seventh 
seals of vision i, division 2, probably to satisfy St. John's 
curiosity as to what means should give the church so much 
trouble, — as related in the seals — and to let him know what the 
outcome should be. So he is shown the opposition — the four 
angels — the means by which they were restrained and the king- 
dom forwarded, — the angel from the East, — and the Christian 
Church in its triumph. 

Verse i. John is shown the four angels of opposition, 
paganism, Catholocism, Atheism, and Judaism, holding back 
the gospel winds that they should not blow on the earth. 



24 KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 



Verse 2. The angel ascending from the East is the 
Christian Church. It has always combated every form of 
opposition to the gospel. It is said to be ascending from the 
East, because constantly growing in size and power. 

It is called the angel from the east, because when Adam 
and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, God placed 
cherubim wth a flaming sword which turned every way, at the 
east of the garden, to keep the way of the tree of life. Not to 
keep men from the tree of life — the tree of life is perfect 
works, likened to a tree because it has its different depart- 
ments of work, as a tree has its several branches — but to make 
a gateway through which they could come to the tree of life, 
and into the privileges of God's government and yet the 
sacredness of law be observed. These cherubim were the law 
and the sacrifice. Outside the garden man would inevitably 
be slain with the flaming sword, vengeance of the law, but 
inside they were safe. The Christian Church was instituted 
to invite men to come to the privileges of God's government 
through this eastern gate, or by the mercy seat which was 
between the cherubim. It is therefore the angel of the eastern 
gate, or of the law, the sacrifice, and the mercy seat. This 
angel combated the four angels of opposition successfully and 
in the remainder of this chapter the measure of its success is 
given by exhibiting to St. John the Church in its triumph. 
He is shown the Church in its two divisions, ministers and 
members. 

Ministers. 

Verses 4-8. The expression 144,000 does not mean that 
only that number were saved of all Israel, but this: The gos- 
pel was, in the Mosaical dispensation, delivered into the care 
of the twelve tribes of Israel. They were made its mini ters 
and custodians. Under the Christian dispensation the gospel 
was given into the care of the twelve apostles. These through 
their preaching greatly multiplied the number of ministers or 
the first twelve, that is multiplied twelve bj twelve=i44. 10 is 
used in the Bible as the measure of perfection — i. e. the ten 
commandments were the measure of moral perfection. A 
cube is perfect from every side and the cube of 10=1000. 
144,000 means therefore the Christian ministry, perfect in 
every point of view, which, as they dared and suffered every- 
thing for Christ's sake and the gospel's, is a perfect description 
of them. 

Membership. 

Verses 9, 10. The innumerable company is the member- 
ship of the Church. The remainder of the chapter is easily 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 



25 



understood. It shows the angels standing around the throne 
worshipping God for that his Church was built up in ihe earth, 
and an explanation bj one of the elders, verse 13-17, of the 
innumerable company. 

VisioQ 3. "The Trumpets— Chap. YUI-IX. 

(Second Axial Vision.) 



^^And the 
saying, Make thee two trumpets 



Numbers X, 1-2. 



shalt thou make them ; that 



Lord spake unto Moses 

of silver; of a whole piece 

thou mavest use them for the 



calling of the assembly and the journeyings of the camp, 
We see therefore the trumpet was used to call men to action. 





Chart of Axial Visions and Periods. 




BABEL. 


Pagau beast.. 

Catholicism . 

Atheism 


Seal I 
Seal 2 
Seal3, 538 A. D. 
Seal 4 
Seals 


Trumpet i 
Trumpet 2 
Trumpet 3 
Trumpet 4 
Trumpet 5 


Vial I 
Vial 2 
Vial 3 
Vial 4 
Vial 5 


Period i 
Period 2 
Period 3 
Period 4 
Poricd 5 


1798 A . D . . . . 


ARMAGEDDON. 


Judaism - 


Seal 6 
Seal 7 


Trumpet 6 
Trumpet 7 


Vial 6 
Vial 7 


Period 6 
Period 7 


Millenium 


Comp Vision i 
General 

History. 


Comp. Vis 2 

What men 

did. 


Comp. Vis4 

What God 

did. 







The vision of the trumpets relates what men did for or 
against the gospel during the seven periods. The five angels 
who first blew were from the opposition, and therefore the 
devil's angels. The sixth and seventh angels were God's and 
called men to put down wrong. 

Verse 2. The five who first blew, represent the opposition, 
and their trumpets blasts the calls the opposition made in each 
period for men to help destroy the gospel. The sixth and 
seventh angels are the Christian church in tne sixth and seventh 
periods, and their trumpets blew to call men to destroy 
opposition to God. 

Verse 3. This angel is the Christian Church and the altar 
at which he stood is the altar of sacrifice and this figure of 
speech represents that the early Christian Church stood ready 
to sacrifice itself in the cause ot Christ. A censer is used to 
burn incense in. It is here made an image of, or represents 
the hearts of the members of the Church in apostolic times. 
Incense represents the holiness, zeal and ardor of the followers 
of Christ at this period, and the verse in ordinary English 



26 KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 

means that the early Christians were ready, willing and 
anxious to sacrifice themselves to advance Christ's kingdom 
and that their hearts burned with this zeal and ardor, and 
that when they prayed to God they offered up this incense 
— i. e. their zeal and ardor on the golden altar of prayer, the 
second altar of verse 3. 

Why the Five Blew.— Angels of Babel. 

The reason the opposing angels blew was that God's 
people were praying top much to suit the world. The 
Christian Church — the angel, Chap. VIII, 3~stood at the 
altar in season and out of season, and sent up its earnest 
petitions for the success of Christ's cause. God heard its 
prayers — i. e. the smoke off the altar ascended up before God 
out of the angel's hand — then the angel~the church — began 
to cast fire "from the altar into the earth. That is the Christian 
ministry preached far and wide that pagani&m and all other 
forms of wrong must go down, and Christianity and right 
take their place. This alarmed the pagan world; they 
sounded the trumpet for men everywhere to come help destroy 
Christianity. There were voices — consultations — thunderings — ^ 
threatenings — lightnings — action — and a great earthquake — i. e. 
paganism roused from the dreamy security of centuries into 
the most intense activity. 

Trumpet 1.— Pagan Persecutions. 

The hail, fire and blood of verse 7 represents the bloody 
pagan persecutions of the first centuries. These persecutions 
were general and are said, therefore, to be cast on the earth. 
The phrase, third part, so persistently used in this vision, 
means this; The temple had three divisions, the holy of 
holies, the holy place, and the court. Those who in worship 
got no closer to God than the court, might well be classed as 
having very little, if any, religion and could easily be turned 
from the worship of God. These are the third part of men 
mentioned so often in this vision. See Chap. XI, 2. Trees 
mean ministers and prominent Christians; grass means weak 
Christians. During these persecutions all the ministers and 
prominent Christians belonged to the third part, and all weak 
Christians, no matter where they belonged gave up their 
religion. 

Trumpet 2. — The Komam Government Assists. 

Verse 8. This trumpet summoned the Roman government 
— the great mountain — to crush the Christian Church, perse- 
cution without government aid having failed. Under its 
bloody persecutions all who hatl spiritual life among men— i. 
e. in the sea which means humanity, but failed to seek help 
and support by becoming members of Christ's church and 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 27 



consorting with its brotherhood, died spiritually, and all the 
ships — i. e. those who carried the gospel on the sea^ — 
humanity but were not of the regular authorized ministry, 
or belonged to the third part, or court, were destroyed. 
The sea is said to become blood by a third part because 
all who were not true Christians among men, or in the 
sea, joined in these bloody persecutions against true Christians 
— i. e. the hearts of the third part became blood-thirsty. 

But those two trumpets failed and Satan gave up open war- 
fare and resorted to policy. He organized the Catholic 
Church to preach polluted doctrines and thereby destroy the 
Church of Christ. 

Trumpet 3.— Catholicism. 

The great star of verse lo, is Pagianism. It had been very 
high up — i. e. had been the universal, dominant faith of the 
World for centuries, now it falls from this proud height — 
heaven— and condescends to become a factor in the Catholic 
"faith, a polluting element in the fountains of the gospel. It 
burned as a lamp — i. e. pretended to be gospel light. This 
star fell onto the third part of the rivers and fountains — that is 
on the rivers and fountains of the court or third part. Rivers 
mean conductors of doctrine, therefore ministers, teachers, 
religious books, the forms and ceremonies of the Church, 
etc., through which doctrine is conveyed to men. Fountains 
are sources of doctrine; waters are doctrines. 

Verse ii. This star is called wormwood. That is. the doc- 
trines of Paganism were bitter, bloodthirstj^, lacking the 
sweetness of love, and they made the waters of the gospel 
bitter when mixed with them, so that whoever drank of the 
mixture died spiritually. Note. The tenets of Paganism 
mixed with Christian doctrine formed the Catholic faith. 

Trumpet 4.— Spiritual Darkness. 

Verse 12. The fourth angel, the Catholic church, sounded 
•to obliterate all the light of the gospel sun, the reflected light 
of the Church — the moon — and the stars, or ministry. This the 
third part, or court, agreed to. The third part of the lumin- 
aries of the gospel are therefore said to be darkened. 

Verse 13. This angel was prophecy. The three succeed- 
ing trumpets each brought a woe to opposers of the gospel, 
called here the inhabiters of the earth. 

Trumpet 5.— Chap. IX.— Great Clerical Oppression. 

This trumpet ushers in the first woe, great clerical oppres- 
sion. The star of verse i is the Catholic Church. It had 
posed as the Church of God and demanded the most rigorous 
works to gain his favor, but now it falls from this and sells 
indulgences to commit crime. The infamous Tetzel had 



i8 KEX TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 

DIVISION II. 
Time Historical Division— Chapters IV, XX. 

TEN VISIONS, THREE OF WHICH ARE AXIAL. 

In this division Babel is dominant until 1798, Armegeddon 
dominated afterwards. (Before reading farther see dictionary 
of typical nnmbers at end of key.) 

Vision 1, Chap. IV. 

Verse 1-3. Again the trumpet calls John to act. Come 
up hither, into the spirit, and I will shew thee things which 
must be hereafter. John went up, the dpor of Revelation 
verse i, was opened in heaven and he saw a throne set, and on 
the throne one sat, God, the power that was to bring success and 
victory, and therefore the jewel of salvation, which fact is 
described in verse 3 by saying that he was like a jasper and a 
sardine stone to look upon. Round about the throne a rain- 
bow. God's promise that the church should no more be over- 
whelmed by the deluge of sin, but should be victorious over sin 
and opposition. Like an emerald — i. e. a precious prom.ise. 

Verse 4. In the economy of the church God provided places 
for twelve tribes and twelve apostles, the first twelve to be the 
ministers and custodians of the gospel in the old dispensation, 
and the gates of the new dispensation; and the second twelve 
to be the first ministers of the new dispensation, and the 
foundations of its ministerial system. These places were the 
seats, and they who sat upon them, the twelve tribes and the 
twelve apostles. These elders were clothed in white — ie. 
righteousness — and wore crowns of gold — were invested with 
necessary and valuable authority to rule in the church 

Verse 5. Out of the throne proceeded lightnings — acts — 
thunderings — mighty, unmistakable declarations, commands, 
etc. — and voices. These were for proclamation, to declare the 
future, to sentence, to command, reward, etc., ie. the voice of 
a throne. And seven lamps of fire — God's spirit as it acted on 
humanity during the seven periods, and called lamps of fire 
because they would burn up sin either through conversion, or 
by destroying the sinner if incorrigible. 

Verse 6. Before the throne a sea of glass. Sea means 
humanity bounded by the shores of government, or of time. 
This sea is the humanity on which the seven lamps of fire 
were to act. It is said to be glass, because one can see through 
glass, and God enabled John to see the future of this humanity 
as through clear glass. And in the midst of the throne four 
beasts. These were the cherubim, viz: the law, the sacrifice, 
and the churches of the old and the new dispensation, called 
beasts because the vehicles or means by which God brought 
salvation to men. As the action of these beasts toward 



KEY TO THE REVELA.TION OF ST. JOHN. 19 



humanity depended entirely on whether they accepted the sacri- 
fice and became God's children, or the reverse, these beasts 
were equipped with eyes to observe their actions. 

Verse 7. The law alone devours the sinner like a lion; 
the calf represents the animal sacrifices of the church of the 
old dispensation; the face of a man stands for the sacrifice 
which Christ made for sin, and the Christian church is like an 
eagle in two respects; first it swoops down on sin like an 
eagle on the prey, and second in its powers of flight as shown 
on the day of Pentecost, when with one swoop of its wings it 
carried the gospel to earth's remotest bounds. In short, its 
mission is to be a carrier of the gospel, and it has grandly per- 
formed its mission. 

Verse 8. The four beasts had each of them six wings. 
The two cherubim, or beasts, that stood on the ends of the 
mercy seat — i. e. the law and the sacrifice — had but two wings 
each. These were for flying. As law flew to devour the sin- 
ner, sacrifice flew to offer herself in his place; their inner 
wings met, law was satisfied and beneath their outstretched 
wings man saw the mercy seat. But when occasion required 
the cherubim had more wings. Thus in Isaiah, Chap. VI, 
where the prophet was sent to an incorrigible people who 
were to be destroyed, they had six wings each; two to cover 
their feet, i. e. God would remove his church from those peo- 
ple, two to cover their face, i. e. God no longer extended his 
mercy to them but would pour out wrath, and two for flying as 
usual. The beasts of verse 8 were similarly equipped and for 
the same purposes. During the persecutions related of in Rev- 
elations, God took the church from her persecutors at one 
time, for 1260 years, i. e. the woman — the church — fled into the 
wilderness for that length of time, then the beasts covered 
their feet. When the vials of wrath were poured out, the woes 
descended and mercy was no longer granted, they covered 
their faces — and were full of eyes within. These observed the 
justice of their own actions toward men, or tersely said they 
looked within. If men accepted the sacrifice, God granted 
them life and the beasts cried: ^^Holy! holy! Lord God 
Almighty, thou hast granted mercy and yet regarded the 
sacredness of law." If they spurned the sacrifice and died, 
they still cried, ^*Holy! Lord God Almighty, he has sinned 
and must die." In short, the institution of the law, the sacri- 
fice, and the church for the salvation of men, who were at 
enmity with God, attests continually to his goodness, mercy 
and holiness. 

Verses 9-1 1. And when those beasts give glory to him 
who sat on the throne, the four and twenty elders cast their 
crowns, etc. That is they laid their authority at his feet and 



20 KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 

said: '^In thy acts toward men, we claim no authority^ of 
right, but hold it for thy pleasure, for like thj other crea- 
tures we were made for thj glory.'* 

The view given in Chap. IV is that of God seated on his 
throne supported by the beasts, which made it possible to 
establish a throne among men, and surrounded by the minis- 
try of the church — the elders — through whom it was and is to 
be established, having the humanity among whom he will 
establish his throne — i. -e. the sea of glass — before him, and 
about to give his revelation to Christ — the lamb — verses 5-7 of 
Chap. V — who sent and signified it by his angel prophecy 
to his servant John. See Chap. I: i. 

Chapter V. 

Verse i. And I saw in the right hand of him who sat on 
the throne a book. He who sat on the throne was God, and 
and the book the story of the setting up of the kingdom, made 
known before hand through Revelations. Each seal was the 
history of the kingdom in a certain division of time, and the 
writing on the back side the story of the kingdom after time. 

Verse 2. I saw a strong angel, etc. The angel was the 
church in its anxious desire to know its future, asking, who can 
tell the future? 

Verse 3. No man could tell anything about the future of 
the church and the world, or even see the future. 

Verse 4. John wept because the future was veiled, and his 
sorrow was general in the church at that date of its history. 

Verse 5. The name of this elder was Levi. To them it 
was given to deliver the oracles of God. The lion of the tribe 
of Judah is Christ. He prevailed to open the book, or tell the 
future of the church, because he had undertaken the work of 
reedeeming the race, and everything necessary to that work 
was delivered into his hands, and revelation was one of these 
necessary means. 

Verse 6. This lamb was Christ, standing among his 
cherubim and the elders. The horns represent his power to 
forward his church during the seven periods, and his eyes his 
ability to foresee the future during the seven periods. They 
are, therefore, prophetical organs. 

Veres 7-1 1. Christ took the book — i. e. received his rev- 
elation from God as stated in Chap. I: i — and when he had so 
done, the church, its institutions, vehicles, etc., fell down and 
worshipped Christ with prayer and praise, and every creature 
God had made, gave to him glory, honor and praise, veres 

13-14. 

Chapter VI.— The Seals. 

SEAL I. — THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH GOING OUT TO BATTLE. 

Verse I. The opening of the first seal marks the begin- 
ning of Christian church history. It is that period in which 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 2i 



the apostles and early christian ministers preached the gospel, 
and may be said to date from the day of Pentecost. 

Verse 2. The white horse is the Christian church, Christ 
is his rider and the gospel the bow. The crown is the insigna 
of Christ's kingship; and he and the charch went forth 
conquering, and to conquer, i. e. his career was to be one of 
unbroken success, and it is a significant fact that the white 
horse and his rider have never been worsted in battle, or ever 
received a check, and neve will until the last foe is swept 
from the field. 

The beast who says come and see, is the Christian church, 
or flying eagle, and the voice is said to be like thunder, to indi- 
cate that the church began its onslaught on Babel openly and 
boldly — not covertly or timidly — i. e. their attack was with the 
noise of thunder. 

Seal 2.— Pag'an Persecutions. 

Verses 3-4. The second seal is the second period in the 
history of the church. It is the period of general pagan perse- 
cution. It began with the stoning of Stephen and continued 
under the Roman emporers until about the time of Constan- 
tine, at which time Satan ceased from open warfare and sought 
to destroy the Christian church by corrupting her doctrines. 
During this period Christ's followers were slaughtered 
like animals, giving their bodies a sacrifice, rather than 
renounce the gospel. The beast who said, come and see, was 
the church of the old dispensation whose animal sacrifices to 
keep the gospel before the world were similar to the sacrifice 
which the early christians made of their bodies for the same 
purpose. The great sword was persecution. 

Seal 3.— Catliolicisin. 

Verses 5, 6. This is the third period of church history. 
The black horse is the Catholic church and faith, which Satan 
now used as a means — beast — with which to oppose the 
Christian church, the first beast — paganism— having failed. 
The balances are the insigna of a merchant and signify that 
the Catholic clergy made merchandise of wtiat purported to be 
the grace of God. 

Verse 6. The voice in th^ midst of the four beasts, is the 
voice of the Catholic clergy. They are in the midst of the 
four beasts because they intrenched themselves for purposes 
of gain in the midst of the law, the sacrifice, and the two 
churches of the old and the new dispensations. A measure of 
wheat for a penny, etc., means: We will sell a measure of 
grace for money and see that you do nothing to take from us 
— the clergy — the oil and the wine. 



22 KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 

Seal 4r.— Spiritual Sickness and Death. 

Verses 7, 8. During this the fourth period, the effect of 
the apostate religion of the Catholic church, the black horse is 
seen. The result of accepting it was spiritual sickness, which 
is represented by the pale horse. Death sat on the horse, or in 
plain terms, this spiritual sickness resulted in spiritual death. 
Hell followed with him. The social and religious state of 
these people became such that it is likened to hell. And 
power was given ihem, etc., means that these spiritually dead 
people instituted the papal persecutions against the Christian 
church. These extended over the fourth part of the earth, and 
were the most dreadful the church has ever known. The beast 
who said, come and see, was law. The meaning is this: See 
how these people spurn the sacrifice and crucify Christ anew 
in the person of his followers and thus expose themselves to 
the vengeance of the law. 

Seal 5, Justice Demanded, 

Verses 9-1 1. In this period the souls of those who had 
been slain for Christ sake demanded justice. In other words 
the influences that brought the reformation, the cleansing of 
the sanctuary, which began about 1750 A. D. and the domi* 
nance of the gospel, by which opposition is to be destroyed, 
began powerfully to work. Vengence came at the end of the 
fifth seal when the Pope was taken by Bonaparte, the 1260 years 
of papal dominance ended, and Armageddon became dominant 
in the earth. These souls are said to be under the altar, 
because the altar represents justice — i. e. the victim was burned 
on the altar to satisfy the demands of justice. These souls had 
been sacraficed unjustly, but they were covered by the altar — 
justice — and due vengence would be taken for their blood. 
White robes means their cause and demands were adjudged 
just, but those demands would be fully satisfied later on, when 
the cup of iniquity of the papacy was full. 

Seal 6— Armageddon or Empire of the Gospel 

Becomes Dominant. 

The sixth Seal or period began 1798 A. D., and from that 
date to the end of the world of opposition — not the end of the 
mundane sphere — is called in verse 17 the great day of God's 
wrath, because it has been, and is to be, one unbroken period 
of the destruction of wrong. How much wrong has been 
broken down since the sixth seal was opened. Atheism has 
fallen, the papacy has been reduced to the condition of a 
decrepit giant. The doctrine of the divine right of kings is no 
longer accepted. American slavery, the slave trade, and 
Russian serfdom have been destroyed. Mohamedism is being 
dried up, and the continents that sat in the region of the valley 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 23 



and the shadow of death, have been lighted up bj the risen sun 
of the gospel, while there are but few places in the world where 
free thought, free speech, and the right to worship God accord- 
ing to the dictates of one's own conscience, is not guaranteed 
to men; and not jet has the great Armageddon ceased to 
destroy that which is opposed to God, till every wrong has 
ceased, until every government of men is stamped out beneath 
its iron heel, and the government of Christ extends over the 
whole earth. 

Verse 12. While the whole period covered by the sixth 
seal is a series of earthquakes by which wrong is shaken down 
and engulfed, St. John probably refers to that tremendous 
earthquake at its close when all the governments of earth will 
fall. 

Verse 13. The heavens of this verse represents the govern- 
ment of Babel, and that it departed as a scroll when it roiled 
together, means that it was gradually, though rapidly demol- 
ished, as a scroll is gradually rolled up. The sun, moon and 
stars represent the lights of that government. These disap- 
peared and it was left in darkness. Mountains and Islands are 
empires, and smaller governments. 

Verse 15 and 16. Those who tried to hide from the wrath 
of the lamb, were those of every station in life who were op- 
posed to right, and not God's people. These were assisting in 
the destruction of wrong, i. e. were the means by which God 
wrought its destruction. 

Verse 17. Means who that is opposed to God will be able to 
stand in this day. 

Seal 7— Millenium Beg^ins— Chap. VIII. 

Verse, i. And when he had opened the seventh seal there 
was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour, i. e. St. 
John received no more visions for about two weeks. 

Vision Two, Division 2, Chapter VII. 

(Companion Vision to Vision of the Seals.) 

This vision is interpolated between the sixth and seventh 
seals of vision i, division 2, probably to satisfy St. John's 
curiosity as to what means should give the church so much 
trouble, — as related in the seals — and to let him know what the 
outcome should be. So he is shown the opposition — the four 
angels — the means by which they were restrained and the king- 
dom forwarded, — the angel from the East, — and the Christian 
Church in its triumph. 

Verse i. John is shown the four angels of opposition, 
paganism, Catholocism, Atheism, and Judaism, holding back 
the gospel winds that they should not blow on the earth. 



24 KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 



Verse 2. The angel ascending from the East is the 
Christian Church. It has always combated every form of 
opposition to the gospel. It is said to be ascending from the 
East, because constantly growing in size and power. 

It is called the angel from the east, because when Adam 
and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, God placed 
cherubim wth a flaming sword which turned every way, at the 
east of the garden, to keep the way of the tree of life. Not to 
keep men from the tree of life — the tree of life is perfect 
workSj likened to a tree because it has its different depart- 
ments of work, as a tree has its several branches — but to make 
a gateway through which they could come to the tree of life, 
and into the privileges of God's government and yet the 
sacredness of law be observed. These cherubim were the law 
and the sacrifice. Outside the garden man would inevitably 
be slain with the flaming sword, vengeance of the law, but 
inside they were safe. The Christian Church was instituted 
to invite men to come to the privileges of God's government 
through this eastern gate, or by the mercy seat which was 
between the cherubim. It is therefore the angel of the eastern 
gate^ or of the law, the sacrifice, and the mercy seat. This 
angel combated the four angels of opposition successfully and 
in the remainder of this chapter the measure of its success is 
given by exhibiting to St. John the Church in its triumph. 
He is shown the Church in its two divisions, ministers and 
members. 

Ministers. 

Verses 4-8. The expression 144,000 does not mean that 
only that number were saved of all Israel, but this: The gos- 
pel was, in the Mosaical dispensation, delivered into the care 
of the twelve tribes of Israel. They were made its mini ters 
and custodians. Under the Christian dispensation the gospel 
was given into the care of the twelve apostles. These through 
their preaching greatly multiplied the number of ministers or 
the first twelve, that is multiplied twelve bj twelve=i44. 10 is 
used in the Bible as the measure of perfection — i. e. the ten 
commandments were the measure of moral perfection. A 
cube is perfect from every side and the cube of 10=1000. 
144,000 means therefore the Christian ministry, perfect in 
every point of view, which, as they dared and suffered every- 
thing for Christ's sake and the gospel's^ is a perfect description 
of them. 

Membership. 

Verses 9, 10. The innumerable company is the member- 
ship of the Church. The remainder of the chapter is easily 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 



25 



understood. It shows the angels standing around the throne 
worshipping God for that his Church was built up in ihe earth, 
and an explanation by one of the elders, verse 13-17, of the 
innumerable company. 

Vision 3. -The Trampets— Chap. YIII-IX. 

(Second Axial Vision.) 

Numbers X, 1-2. ^^And the Lord spake unto Moses 
saying, Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece 
shalt thou make them ; that thou mayest use them 
calling of the assembly- and the journeyings of the camp 
We see therefore the trumpet was used to call men to action. 



for the 



Pagau beast 

Catholicism 

Atheism 


Chart of Axial Visions and Periods. 


BABEL. 


Seal I 
Seal 2 
-Seal3, 538 A. D. 
Seal 4 
Seals 


Trumpet i 
Trumpet 2 
Trumpet 3 
Trumpet 4 
Trumpet 5 


Vial I 
Vial 2 
Vial 3 
Vial 4 
Vial 5 


Period i 
Period 2 
Period 3 
Period 4 
Poricd 5 


1798A. D... 

Judaism 

Millenium 


ARMAGEDDON. 


Seal 6 
Seal 7 


Trumpet 6 
Trumpet 7 


Vial 6 
Vial 7 


Period 6 
Period 7 


Comp Vision i 
General 

History. 


Comp. Vis 2 

What men 

did. 


Comp. Vis4 

What God. 

did. 







The vision of the trumpets relates what men did for or 
against the gospel during the seven periods. The five angels 
who first blew were from the opposition, and therefore the 
devil's angels. The sixth and seventh angels were God's and 
called men to put down wrong. 

Verse 2. The five who first blew, represent the opposition, 
and their trumpets blasts the calls the opposition made in each 
period for men to help destroy the gospel. The sixth and 
seventh angels are the Christian church in tne sixth and seventh 
periods, and their trumpets blew to call men to destroy 
opposition to God. 

Verse 3. This angel is the Christian Church and the altar 
at which he stood is the altar of sacrifice and this figure of 
speech represents that the early Christian Church stood ready 
to sacrifice itself in the cause ot Christ. A censer is used to 
burn incense in. It is here made an image of, or represents 
the hearts of the members of the Church in apostolic times. 
Incense represents the holiness, zeal and ardor of the followers 
of Christ at this period, and the verse in ordinary English 



26 KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 

means that the early Christians were ready, willing and 
anxious to sacrifice themselves to advance Christ's kingdom 
and that their hearts burned with this zeal and ardor, and 
that when they prayed to God they offered up this incense 
— i. e. their zeal and ardor on the golden altar of prayer, the 
second altar of verse 3. 

Why the Five Blew.—An^els of Babel. 

The reason the opposing angels blew was that God's 
people were praying too much to suit the world. The 
Christian Church — the angel, Chap. VIII, 3— stood at the 
altar in season and out of season, and sent up its earnest 
petitions for the success of Christ's cause. God heard its 
prayers — i. e. the smoke off the altar ascended up before God 
out" of the angel's hand — then the angel—the church — began 
to cast fire "from the altar into the earth. That is the Christian 
ministry preached far and wide that paganis-m and all other 
forms of wrong must go down, and Christianity and right 
take their place. This alarmed the pagan world; they 
sounded the trumpet for men everywhere to come help destroy 
Christianity. There were voices — consultations — thunderings — ^ 
threatenings — lightnings — action — and a great earthquake — i. e. 
paganism roused from the dreamy security of centuries into 
the most intense activity. 

Trumpet 1. "Pagan Persecutions. 

The hail, fire and blood of verse 7 represents the bloody 
pagan persecutions of the first centuries. These persecutions 
were general and are said, therefore, to be cast on the earth. 
The phrase, third part, so persistently used in this vision, 
means this: The temple had three divisions, the holy of 
holies, the holy place, and the court. Those who in worship 
got no closer to God than the court, might well be classed as 
having very little, if any, religion and could easily be turned 
from the worship of God. These are the third part of men 
mentioned so often in this vision. See Chap. XI, 2. Trees 
mean ministers and prominent Christians; grass means weak 
Christians. During these persecutions all the ministers and 
prominent Christians belonged to the third part, and all weak 
Christians, no matter where they belonged gave up their 
religion. 

Trumpet 2. — The Komani Government Assists. 
Verse 8. This trumpet summoned the Roman government 
— the great mountain — to crush the Christian Church, perse- 
cution without government aid having failed. Under its 
bloody persecutions all who had spiritual life among men— i. 
e. in the sea which means humanity, but failed to seek help 
and support by becoming members of Christ's church and 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 27 



consorting with its brotherhood, died spiritually, and all the 
ships — i. e. those who carried the gospel on the sea^ — 
humanity but were not of the regular authorized ministry, 
or belonged to the third part, or court, were destroyed. 
The sea is said to become blood by a third part because 
all who were not true Christians among men, or in the 
sea, joined in these bloody persecutions against true Christians 
— i. e. the hearts of the third part became blood-thirsty. 

But those two trumpets failed and Satan gave up open war- 
fare and resorted to policy. He organized the Catholic 
Church to preach polluted doctrines and thereby destroy the 
Church of Christ. 

Trviiiipet 3.— Catholicism. 

The great star of verse 10, is Pagianism. It had been very 
high up — i. e. had been the universal, dominant faith of the 
World for centuries, now it falls from this proud height — 
heaven^and condescends to become a factor in the Catholic 
faith, a polluting element in the fountains of the gospel. It 
burned as a lamp — i. e. pretended to be gospel light. This 
star fell onto the third part of the rivers and fountains — that is 
on the rivers and fountains of the court or third part. Rivers 
mean conductors of doctrine, therefore ministers, teachers, 
religious books, the forms and ceremonies of the Church, 
etc., through which doctrine is conveyed to men. Fountains 
are sources of doctrine; waters are doctrines. 

Verse 11. This star is called wormwood. That Is the doc- 
trines of Paganism were bitter, bloodthirsty, lacking the 
sweetness of love, and they made the waters of the gospel 
bitter when mixed with them, so that whoever drank of the 
mixture died spiritually. Note. The tenets of Paganism 
mixed with Christian doctrine formed the Catholic faith. 

Trumpet 4.— Spiritual Darkness. 

Verse 12. The fourth angel, the Catholic church, sounded 
^o obliterate all the light of the gospel sun, the reflected light 
of the Church — the moon — and the stars, or ministry. This the 
third part, or court, agreed to. The third part of the lumin- 
aries of the gospel are therefore said to be darkened. 

Verse 13. This angel was prophecy. The three succeed- 
ing trumpets each brought a woe to opposers of the gospel, 
called here the inhabiters of the earth. 

Trumpet 5.— Chap. IX.— Great Clerical Oppression. 

This trumpet ushers in the first woe, great clerical oppres- 
sion. The star of verse i is the Catholic Church. It had 
posed as the Church of God and demanded the most rigorous 
works to gain his favor, but now it falls from this and sells 
indulgences to commit crime. The infamous Tetzel had 



28 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN, 



everj sin in the catalogue priced-and extorts monev for 

the Church. The kej means the power given the nanarv fn 
create conH^ions on earth resembUng those of hell ^^ ^ ^ 
.r. ? u ^^'^^e "^eans rendered visible, and the meanincr 

TnTrZi r' ''' K^"' '^'"^"^^ ^^^ oppressions of the der^Y 
hell TM ' ? '^% preached, the earth became visibT^^ 
hell. Ihis smoke darkened the gospel sun, etc. ^ 

Verses 1 hese locusts are the Catholic clergy, and th^v 

Verse 4. It was commanded them not to hurt the <»ra<is 
neither an^ green thing nor an^ tree; that is to hurt none of 

verse 5. fhey were not to destroy the unsealed h..f tr. 
^rment them for 150 years, which five" months mean The 

=,„^ \t- ^\. , *^ ^""^^ "'^■'^ »^ invulnerable as a war horse 

tions, but beneath were the teeth of the devoufer. """"*" 

verse 9. They were as invulnerable as a mail ^loj 

" V"r"se'r' T T" -g-'-l- - arm3 of chLi'ots "' •^''' 

bv thf,1,™„,T' t "'1,T\ '! I'-' "lim the period marked 

DOMINANT. 

most^'eneraUelc'^; ^j^jf^h ?ngel is the Christian Church in its' 



Key to the revelation of st. john. 29 



Verse 14. The river Euphrates means Mohamedism^ 
especially in Turkey. Mohamedism had its birth near the 
Euphrates, and its seat is on that river, whence its name. The 
four angels are the four Christian powers^ England, Russia, 
France and Germany, who are in treaty bound to protect 
Christians in the Ottoman Empire. 

Verse 15. These angels were loosed, and we learn from 
Chap. XVI, 12 that they dried up, or gradually destroyed the 
Mohamedon religion and rule. This they have done, not only 
by their w^ar-like power, but through the gospel they have sent, 
and through their civilizing influence^ 

We are told these angels were prepared for an hour, a day, 
a month, and a year, to slay the third part of men, or for 396 
years. The third part of men means not only Mohammedans, in 
this place but all those in opposition to God the world over, as 
BuddahistSj Confucists, paganists, etc. God had chosen these 
nations from the beginning of modern history to be his instru- 
ments in breaking down opposition to him, and this they have 
done either by sending out the missionary, through their civi- 
lizing influence, or through commerce and through war and 
diplomacy; and today their grasp is on the continents and 
islands of Asia and Africa. Their methods and their inten- 
tions have often been unjust, but they have been made God's 
instruments. He maketh even the wrath of man to praise him. 

Verse 16. The four powers number about 200,000,000. 

Verse 17. Horses represent the governments of the four 
powers. They are wealthy, — Jacinth. Vengence taking, — fire 
—destroying, — brimstone — governments. These qualities are 
their breast plates, or defense, and make them terrible. Those 
who sat on these horses, are those who have charge of these 
governments. The heads of the horses represent the 'intel- 
lectual or diplomatic policy, which is especially with weaker 
governments, to destroy and devour, i. e. annex. 

Verse 18. By the fire, smoke, — visible influence of their 
power to destroy-and brimstone,-destruction, — Mohamedanism 
was dried up — gradually destroyed — and not only Mohammed- 
anism, but heathenism in general. 

Verse 19. By tails is meant their physicial power, viz: 
their armies, navies, etc. Their powder was in their mouth, i. 
e. diplomacy — and in their tails, — warlike power. That these 
tails had heads, meant, that as the physicial power of these 
governments was to bite with, they were well equipped with 
biting organs, as armies, navies, etc. 

Verses 20 and 21. It is here said that the heathen who 
were not killed by these plagues, did not give up their 
heathenism. 



30 KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 

Trumpet 7. 

DESTRUCTION OF ALL EARTHLY GOVERNMENTS. 

This trumpet is not given in this vision, but in its second 
companion vision, Chap. XI: 15. It announced the fact that 
the kingdoms of the world had fallen, and C^-hrist's kingdom 
had taken their place. The blowing of this trumpet will 
mark the beginning of the millenium. 

Vision 4:.— Chapter X. 

FIRST COMPANION TO VISION OF TRUMPETS. 

Verse i. This angel is prophecy. The cloud that clothed 
him, is the veil that hides the future from mortal sight. The 
rainbow, like that of Chap. IV: 3, is the bow of promise. His 
face was as the sun — He had power to make the future pel 
fectly light, or to tell all about it. His feet as pillars of fire^ 
i. e. what he revealed was as pillars of fire to light God's 
people through the desert of time and the night of opposition 
to the Canaan of the church triumphant. 

Verse 2. This little book was the story of the future, open 
because about to be revealed That his right foot was on the 
sea, — humanity — and his left foot on the earth, meant that hi& 
revelations told the future of both. 

Verse 3. He cried loud, i, e., his revelation was very clear 
and distinct. We believe these thunders to be threatenings of 
wrath from God, but do not know, for this vision was given 
for St. John's benefit and he was not permitted to write it for 
the world, at least what the thunders Sctid, see verse 4. They 
probably made it very plain to him that opposition would be 
destroyed. 

Verses 5-7. This does not mean that the world will end 
when the seventh angel blows, but that time for opposition to 
the gospel, will end then, and the 'millenium, or Christ's gov- 
ernment in its fullness begin. 

Verses 8-9. The voice St. John heard from heaven, told 
him to get the little book and read it, i. e. eat it up. This he 
did, verse 10, and while it was very sweet to know the future, it 
made him feel very badly, because he now learned, for the 
first time, the part his people, the Jews, would take in oppos- 
ing Christ, through the money power. 

Verse 11. John had already received and written a 
general history, or prophecy, — the Seal, — now he was in addi-* 
tion to tell the world the contents of the little book, or in short 
to give this history more explicitly, and particularly. 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 3i 



Vision 5.— Chapter XI. 

_J:C0ND companion vision of trumpets. — CHAPTER XI. 

FRENCH REVOLUTION. 

Verse i. This reed was Hke a rod because it measured the 
time of the affliction of the church. Its length was 1260 vears 
of CathoHc persecution. At the end of this time Babel ceased 
to dominate the earth, and Armageddon's dominance began. 
John was to measure the temple of God and its altar, because 
these represented true believers, and these would be those 
persecuted. 

Verse 2. The court is the third part. It was not 
measured with the rod affliction, for it was given into the 
hands of the spiritual Gentiles — the Catholics — and therefore 
was not afflicted by them. These Gentiles were to tread the 
holy city — Christ's Church — under foot 1260 years — i. e , forty 
and two months. 

Verse 3. The two witnesses, — Old and New Testaments — 
and the church with them, were to preach the gospel under 
affliction during this time, or sorrowing, as expressed by the 
word sackcloth. A thousand two hundred and three score 
days, is 1260 years, the same as forty and two months. 

Verse 4. These two witnesses are the Bible of the Old 
and New Testaments. 

Verse 5* Any one who opposes the teachings of the Bible 
brings on himself the vengence — fire — related therein. 

Verse 6 means if men will not receive the bible, they shall 
receive no spiritual rain, the doctrines — waters — men set up in 
the place of those of the Bible will be bloodthirsty, — as witness, 
those of Atheism during the French Revolution — and they will 
bring upon themselves the plagues written therein, just as 
often as they reject it. 

Verse 7. The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless 
pit is Atheism, called so, because like hell, the doctrine of 
Atheism is no God. This beast was to kill the scriptures at 
the end of the 1260 years, which it did by getting the French 
Assembly to prohibit them. 

Verse 8. This means their dead bodies should lie in the 
streets of Atheism, which was as stout in knowing not the 
Lord as Egypt, and as licentious as Sodom. 

Verses 9 and 10. The Atheist world did make merry over 
the fall of the Bible, and during the three years and a half in 
which the decree remained in force they did not suffer it to be 
quietly forgotten, — i. e., put in graves — but held it up as an 
object of sport and ridicule. 

Verse 11. Three days and a half — three years and a half — 
at the end of that time the decree prohibiting them was 
rescinded and the two witnesses stood on their feet to prophecy 



32 k^V TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 



with an hitherto unknown power, and clad in regal robes 
instead of sackcloth. Fear fell on their enemies for they saw 
thej were deathless, and unconquerable. 

Verse 12. This voice is the voice of God saying to the 
Bible, come up higher than you have hitherto been. In short 
the Bible and Church were no longer to prophecy in sackcloth, 
but hence-forward clad in regal robes of authority, and power. 
The great, dominant, ruling power under heaven, crushing 
and grinding to powder all other governments, every wrong, 
and every species of opposition. From hence, the Church 
was to be the mighty Armageddon, the Empire of the Gospel, 
Chap. XVI : 16. The sign of the son of man, Math. XXIV : 30, 
the government of the ancient of days, — law of God — ^Dan. 
VII: 9 and 10. 

Verse 13. There was a great revulsion of popular opinion. 
Atheism fell, and infidel France, one of the ten horns of 
opposition, fell and became Christian France, i. e., the rem- 
nant were affrighted and turned Christians. Seven thousand 
men were slain. It is said that seven thousand prominent 
Frenchmen perished on the guillotine during the revolution; 
but be this as it may, we know God demanded exact justice for 
the sins of Atheism, or 7xioxioxio=7xiooo^the Creator's per- 
fect retribution, seven meaning the Creator, and 1000 perfect 
from every side. 

Verse 14. The French Revolution was the second woe. 
The third woe will be at the end of the sixth Seal, as the revo- 
lution was at its beginning; it is said therefore, to come 
quickly. The third woe will be the destruction of the money 
power and the governments of Europe, and afterwards 
those of the world, as well as all opposition. 

Verse 15. This Trumpet we have noticed in the vision of 
the Trumpets. It ushers in the millenium. 

Verses 16-18 are easily understood; they are a song of 
thanksgiving to God that Has crushed out opposition and taken 
to him&elf the whole rule of the earth. The dead, verse 18, are 
the spiritually dead. The time of the reward of God's ser- 
vants, means here the millenium. 

Verse 19 describes the woes that will fall on opposers to 
the gospel when the seventh trumpet shall sound and the third 
woe fall. Then God will throw wide open the doors of the 
temple, that men may see the two cherubim, Law and Sacrifice 
standing on the ends of the mercy seat, and know that those 
who are then suffering the vengence of law, might have had 
mercy if they had only accepted the sacrifice. 

Vision 6, Chaps. XII, XIII, XIV. 

INTRODUCTORY TO VIALS. 

This vision introduces the vision of the Vials of- God's 
wrath, and justifies their being poured out by showing how the 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 33 



enemies of Christ's Church deserve wrath. It exhibits the 
Christian Church in the form of a pure and beniiicent woman. 
This woman is followed and persecuted by three hideous 
beasts, the first of which designed to destroy her child — the 
Church in its extension — as soon as it should be born. The 
second tried to destroy it in its youth, and the third at its 
maturity. For doing this, God will utterly destroy them, — 
pour out the vials of wrath. 

XII. 

Verse i. This woman was the newly organized Christian 
church. She was clothed with the Sun — i. e. was commis- 
sioned to dispel the world's spiritual darkness with the gospel. 
^^Having the moon under her feet," — the moon reflects the 
light of the sun, and thus illumines the night; likewise the 
Christian Church reflects the light of the gospel sun by her ex- 
ample — i. e., by her patience, goodness, charity, faith, etc. 
The twelve stars represent the twelve apostles, her light bear- 
ers, and they crown her head because they were the represent- 
atives of the authority of the Church. 

Verse 2. The child is the Christian Church in its exten- 
sion, and was given birth through the crying of the woman — 
i. e., through the preaching of the apostles. 

Verse 3. This dragon fs the first beast — paganism. The 
heads are the seven great empires: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, 
Medo-Persian empire, Macedonian empire, Rome, and the 
Papacy. The ten horns are the ten states into which the 
Western Roman empire in Europe was divided. The seven 
great empires were the authorized heads of paganism, there- 
fore, the crowns are on their heads. 

Verse 4. Tail repre5>ents the persecuting power of pagan- 
ism. With this tail, he drew all who worshiped in the court 
of the temple — the third part — called stars because Christians 
— and cast them down to the earth — caused them to renounce 
their Christianity. The dragon stood before the woman to 
destroy her child as soon as born — paganism tried to destroy 
the church in its infancy. 

Verse 5. This child was no weakling, nor feminine in his 
character, but a born warrior. He was to rule all nations with 
a rod of iron — make them conform to the laws of God or de- 
stroy them. Her child was caught up to God and to his throne 
— i. e., because the special object ot God's care and the agent 
ot his government on earth throne. 

Verse 6. The woman, it will be underbtood, represents 
the Christian Church in its doctrines and polity. After the 
Catholic Church w^as founded these could only be preserved in 
their purity by separating Christ's Church from it; God there- 
fore, permitted the primitive Church to be driven into hiding; 



34 KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 



there she fed on the bread of Hfe and retained her spiritual 
health. A thousand two hundred and three score days — 1260 
years. 

Verse 7. Heaven means that the battle was one observed 
of all eyes. Michael and his angels — Christ and his Church — 
worked to destroy paganism, and paganism and its emissaries 
tried to destroy the Church; and (verse 8,) were not successful, 
but w^ere so badly beaten that paganism ceased to be the domi- 
nant ruling religion of the vvorld — i. e,, fell from its exalted 
position, or fell from heaven. 

Verse 9. Satan had worked through paganism, and when 
it ceased to dominate the earth, his power to openly oppose 
the gospel fell with it — i. e., he was cast out into the earth. 

Verses 10-12, is a song of thanksgiving that Satan is cast 
out, and a warning to the world that he will concoct another 
dreadful form of opposition to the gospel : viz, Catholicism. 

Verse 13. When Satan saw he had no longer power to 
rule through paganism, he persecuted the woman which 
brought forth* the man child. The woman represents the 
Church in its doctrines and polity. These Satan persecuted by 
polluting, or compounding with them, the doctrines and tenets 
of paganism, and forming the doctrines of Catholicism. 

Verse 14. The woman fled into the wilderness that she 
might be nourished — strengthened in doctrine — for 1260 years 
while away from the wiles of Satan in creating apostacy. 
Time, times and half a time — 1260 years. 

Verse 15. Water means doctrine. The devil promulgated 
the polluted doctrines, which afterwards became the Catholic 
faith, that they might be accepted of men, and Christian doc- 
trine be forgotten. 

Verse 16. The earth helped the woman, that is the world 
at large accepted these polluted doctrines — swallowed them — 
with such avidity, that true Christians everywhere saw at once 
they could not be the doctrines of Christ. In this way the 
earth helped the Christian church — the woman — to preserve 
her doctrines pure. 

Verse 17. Having failed in getting the church to accept 
these polluted doctrines the dragon went to make war against 
her seed — members of the church — through persecution. 

Chapter XIII. 

Verse i. St. John stood on the sands of time which bound 
the sea of humanity, and saw the papacy rise from its waters. 
This beast had the same head and horns as paganism, but the 
crowns were now on the horns, i. e., the states of Europe were 
to be his crowned supporters now. 

Verse 2. This beast had spotted doctrines, part Christian, 
part pagan, and was as crafty and cruel as a leopard. It had 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 35 



feet like a begir — walked with a great length of the foot on the 
ground, or sought only temporal good. It had the mouth of a 
lion — was a great destroying power. The dragon gave him his 
power, his seat and great authority; i. e., the devil made 
Catholicism his agent to oppose the gospel, and gave him 
Europe, chiefly, for his seat, and endowned him with great 
authority. 

Verse 3. This head — the papacy — was wounded as it were 
to death when Napoleon Bonaparte made the pope prisoner, 
1798 A. D. The 1260 years of dominance ended then. His 
deadly wound was healed July, 1870, when the infallibilit} of 
the pope was proclaimed from the Vatican in Rome. 

Verse 4. Men worshiped the beast, Catholicism, and 
through it the devil. 

Verse 5. The Church of Rome claimed to be the true and 
only Church of God, and the Pope represented himself to be 
Christ's vicar on earth, and that to him were given the keys of 
the kingdom of heaven, and that he could therefore admit, or 
shut out, whom he pleased. Forty and two months mean 1260 
years. 

Verse 6. Not content with the blasphemy of saying that 
the Church of Rome was the Church of God, and the Pope his 
vicar, the papacy blasphemed by saying the Christian Church 
was of the devil, and Christ's followers heretics. God's taber- 
nacle is God's government on earth, i. e., the Church. 

Verse 7. It was given to him to persecute the saints even 
unto death, and power was given him over all of the civilized 
world. 

Verse 8. Almost all men who were not true Christians, 
become Catholics. 

Verses 9, 10. In these verses God announces the fact that 
this beast which was so terrible an instrument of destruction 
to the church, w^ould be taken by it and destroyed, and that the 
saints knowing this, by faith in the revelations of God, could 
endure his persecutions w^ith patience. 

The Two Horned Beast Judaism. 

Verse 11. This beast is Judaism. He is said to come up 
eout of the earth because the Jews are scattered all over the 
earth. The two horns represent the typical sacirfices of the 
Mosaical church, and although it has the horns of the lamb, it is 
said to speak as the dragon, because it is novv in opposition to 
God instead of being His Church, as formerly. 

Verse 12. This beast exercises empirical power over the 
world a the papacy did, and in that it is an apostate power, 
similar to the papacy, and that it will have a head, whom it 
will claim to be the long looked for Messiah, it is so similar to 
the papacy, that when it causes men to worship it, it is said to 
cause them to worship the papacy. 



36 KEX TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 



Verse 13. Judaism — the monej power — has already done 
great wonders. Fire means judgment, vengeance, and this 
beast has it in his power to create a financial panic at anj 
time, to bring governments to the verge of bankruptcy, to stop 
the wheels of commerce and trade, when he desires to punish 
men for objecting to him, or when he thinks it necessary for 
his advancement. 

Verse 14. By the miraculous things this beast can do he 
will deceiNe the world into thinking he is a necessity. Tu the 
sight, means in his own sight. When the w^orld believes him 
a necessity, he will say to it, that it must make an image to 
ti^e beast that had a wound by a sword and did live — the papa- 
cy — that is it will say to the world you must give to the Jews 
and their head empirical rule over the earth, temporally and 
spirituall}', even as the papacy had empirical power over it. 
This is the image to the beast Catholicism. 

Verse 15. Judaism — the money power— was successful in 
forcing this rule upon the world ; or in other words gave life 
to the image, and when this was done, issued his command to 
men to worship the beast, or obey it, and as many as did not, 
he decreed they should be killed. He will kill men through 
business interests, and not by bloodshed. 

Verses 16, 17. He causeth all men to receive his mark in 
their right hand or in their foreheads. That is they must work 
for him either w^ith their hands or their head, or not work at 
all. 

Verse 17. If men will not receive his mark, which means 
if they will not belong to the money power, he will not allow 
them to do business. Mark means that he who is marked be- 
longs to the money power. Name means that he is a Jew, and 
number refers to wealth. 

Verse 18. 666 is in the Roman system DCLXVI, the letters 
from which they formed their denominations, and by that sys- 
tem would read denominational power, or beast. In the 
Arabic system 666=2 which in the typical numbering of the 
Bible stands for man, multiplied by 3 which represents God, 
multiplied by the denominational ratio 100 — 10 — i, and by 
this system would read man-god-power by denomination — 
or wealth. Note. — If any doubt that two means man, three 
represents God, seven the Creator, four the law, the sacrifice 
and the two churches, etc., proof of the fact will readily be 
found in the measurements and numbering of the tabernacle, 
in which tvery factor necessary to the salvation of man is given 
by number. 

Chap. XIV.— How Opposition Was Broken Down. 

Chap. XIV tells the means by which wrong was destroyed, 
and right enthroned; viz., through the spreacTof the gospel^ 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 37 



and describes the harvest of holiness and the ingathering and 
destruction of the wicked. 

Verses 1-5 shows us Christ and his ministry. The 144,000 
are his minislrj, the Lamb is Christ, Mount Sion is God's 
government on earth, viz., the church, and the name written in 
their forehead is Child of God. 

Verse 2. The voice is the sound of this ministry praising 
God and preaching the gospel. It is heard from heaven, be- 
cause the gospel had now come to be the ruling power of earth 
— i. e., was exalted very high — and this voice comes from this 
ruling power. It is said to be as the voice of many waters, 
because this ministry was of all peoples, nations and tongues — 
i. e., waters — and as the voice of a great thunder, because their 
preaching now reverberated from pole to pole. John heard the 
voice of harpers. These ministers were expert musicians in 
the praise of God, and John heard their music. 

Verse 3. The song was redemption and victory through 
Christ. They sung it before the throne of God, and before the 
four cherubim, and the four and twenty elders, through whom 
this salvation became possible. No man could learn that song 
unless he became one of the 144,00c, or in short became one 
of Christ's ministry by precept, example or labor. Redeemed 
from the earth means redeemed from among men to preach 
the gospel, as the Levites were set apart to minister the gospel 
in the Mosaical dispensation. See Numbers, III, 12-13. 

Verse 4. Women here are apostate religions. This min- 
istry has not left the gospel to go after apostacy. They fol- 
low Christ wherever he goeth, i. e., wherever duty to Christ 
calls. They are the first fruits of the gospel, that is those to 
whom God ireveals His will, and calls them to reveal it to 
others. 

Verse 5. They are faultless before God. 

What This Ministry Did— viz., Preacli the Gospel. 

Verses 6, 7. The angel of verse 6 is this ministry going 
everywhere, and to all people to preach the gospel. They are 
said to fly in the midst of heaven, because the kingdom of 
of Christ — Armageddon — rules the world, and no matter where 
they go, or to what people, they are under its protection and 
guidance. 

Verse 7. The hour of His judgment has come — i. e., the 
time when God will utterly overthrow all opposition to him, 
therefore worship Him who made the sea — humanity — and the 
fountains of water — doctrines of the gospel. 

Effect of Their Preachingr. 

Verse 8. An angel followed this ministry saying, Babylon 
— opposition to God's law — has fallen, and because she caused 
men to break God's laws. 



38 KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 

Verses 9-1 1. A third angel, law, warns men that if thej 
will oppose God, the inevitable result will be torment and de- 
struction, even as Babylon has been destroyed. 

Verse 12. The saints knowing that they who do well shall 
receive their reward in due time, and they who do ill receive 
judgments, can bear their afflictions with patience, and even 
with joy. 

Verse 13. Knowing this, the saints can die in peace, and 
with joy, for if they have left God's work unfinished and ap- 
parently in jeopardy, their works do follow them, for God sees 
to it that His cause for which they labored is successful. They 
rest and their works, work for His cause. 

Harvest of Holiness. 

The preaching of the gospel by the ministry, verses 1-5, 
finally Christianized the whole earth, so that it was not only 
dominated by the gospel, but entirely under its rule, and ready 
for Christ to receive in person. The harvest of holiness was 
ripe, and the time had come for Christ to receive a holy world 
and begin the millenium. 

Verse 14. Christ sat on the cloud. It was white because 
its rider came on a mission of peace, i. e., to receive His har- 
vest. He was crowned, because the authorized receiver and 
owner of the harvest. 

Verse 15. The temple represents here the government of 
God on earth, and those who worshiped in it, those who wished 
Christ to rule. These desired earnestly — cried with a loud 
voice — that Christ should take his government, even as the 
church does now desire the same, and is doing all it can to 
bring the government to a state in which Christ can accept it 
as perfect, or ripe. 

Verse 16. He that sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle and 
the earth was reaped, i.e., Christ took the government from 
the hands of law — the Ancient of Days. Dan. VII, 13, 14, 
and the mellenium began. 

Harvest of the Opposition. 

Verses 17-20 relates that God destroyed all opposition to 
Him when Christ took the kingdom. The angel of verse 17 
is Law. He came from out the temple, from the end of the 
mercy seat, to claim his harvest of vengeance. 

Verse 18. This angel is Vengeance. He came from out 
the altar, because the altar represented justice, and justice de- 
manded that these wicked receive vengeance. This angel 
cried to Law: ^'Reap the vine of the earth — opposition to 
God — for her clusters are fully ripe'' — i. e., the cup of iniquity 
of the opposition was full. Grain is used to designate the 
righteous, because they will be garnered — saved— and grapes. 
the unrighteous because they will be crushed; — destroyed. 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST JOHN. 39 



Verse 19. The wicked — opposition — were reaped and cast 
into the wine-press of the wrath of God, i. e., suffered the ven- 
geance of the law of God. 

Verse 20. The wine-press was trodden without the citj — 
Babylon — because that city was destroyed and the opposition 
no longer had her support. Blood came out to the horse- 
bridles by the space of a thousand six hundred furlongs. The 
horse which trod the wine-press was retribution. The wicked 
had ridden the red horse of persecution to the bridle in the 
blood of the saints during the six periods. Now God rides the 
horse retribution the same depth in their blood, or to a full 
compensation. 1000 and 600 furlongs mean perfect retribution 
during the six periods, thus : 10 cube = iooo perfect retribution 
in width and depth and 100x6=600 perfect retribution in length 
or during the six periods. 

The harvests here described are not at the end of the world 
but at the end of the world of opposition, just before the mel- 
lenium. 

THE VIALS. 
Vision 7, Chapters XV, XVl.—Tliird Axial Vision. 

Chap. XV., verse i. John saw another wonderful sight 
while in the spirit, viz,, seven angels having the seven last 
plagues, called last plagues not because they are sent out all 
together after the passage of all other events, but because they 
would be the last ever sent onto the earth; by them the power 
of sin would be forever broken. One plague comes in each 
period. The angels are, generally, the cause — i. e., actions of 
the wicked — which produce punishment and the vials are the 
effect or result of their wickedness — i. e., opposition. 

Verse 2. Sea means humanity, fire means vengeance 
and glass can be seen through. Sea of glass mingled with fire 
means humanity writhing under the wrath of God, whose pun- 
ishment St. John clearly saw as through glass. The righteous 
were not subject to this wrath — i. e., the pouring out of the 
vials — but stood on the sea above it, singing songs of praise to 
the justice and glory of God in that He judged the wicked. 

Verse 5. The temple of the tabernacle of the testimony 
in heaven was opened, that the cherubim. Law and Sacrifice, 
might be seen. This temple was always opened when God 
poured out wrath, that it might be seen that the wicked could 
have had mercy by accepting the sacrifice, and that as they had 
not, their judgment was just. 

Verse 6. These angels came out from the temple because 
Law was there and they obeyed his commands. That they 
were clothed in pure white linen means they were righteous in 
pouring out vengeance on these wicked opposers of the gospel. 
Golden girdles represent their perfect adaptability to pour out 
vengeance. 



40 KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHK. 



Verse 7. This beast was Law. The vials are golden, be- 
cause the punishment of the wicked is necessary and just — 
golden — when thev are incorrigible. 

Verse 8. Smoke means rendered visible, and the temple 
was so full of God's glory made visible to punish, that there 
was no room for any of these incorrigible ones to enter in to 
seek for mercy through the sacrifice. Their cup of iniquity 
was full, and they must take the penalty for their sins. 

Cliap. XVI.— Vial I. 

Verse i. This voice is the voice of God's justice. 

Verse 2. The first angel poured his vial on the earth. He 
did this because opposition to the gospel in the first period was 
scattered, geneial, not under governmental supervision, there- 
fore of the earth ; therefore the penalty, which was a very 
grievous spiritual leprosy, falls on the earth or on these gen- 
eral persecutors. 

Vial II. 

Verse 3. The second period of persecution was by human- 
ity — sea — bounded by the governmental shores of the Roman 
Empire — i. e., the pagan persecutions directed by the Roman 
government. Ihe penalty falls on this sea, therefore, and it 
becomes so spiritually dead that nothing alive is left in it. 

Vial III. 

Verse 4. In the third period the doctrines of the Christian 
religion were polluted by an admixture of paganism. The 
penalty for polluting these doctrines — waters — is that the foun- 
tains, or sources of doctrine, and the rivers or channels through 
which they were conveyed to men were made bloodthirsty. 
The third vial is, therefore, poured out on the doctrines of the 
Roman Catholic church and the means by which they are con- 
veyed to its devotees. 

Verses 5, 6. The angel of the waters is the Christian 
church, God's means of disseminating the doctrines — waters — 
of the gospel. 

Verse 7. The angel of the altar is justice. On the altar 
justice is satisfied. 

Vial 4. 

Verse 8. In the fourth period the papacy prohibited the 
Bible to the masses, and blotted out the gospel sun, moon and 
stars to the worshipers in the court, or the third part of men. 
The penalty, therefore, was the great misery that exists where 
there is no gospel light, which is here compared to being 
scorched by great heat. 

Verse 9. Although men suffered so at this time, they did 
not repent. 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 41 



Vial 5. 

Verse 10. In the fifth period the devil came to earth to 
stay. He turned loose his agents, the Catholic clergj, to op- 
press the adherents of that church. The vial poured out in this 
period was the pain and damage this clergy, elsewhere de- 
scribed as locusts from the bottomless pit, inflicted on the ad- 
herents of the Catholic church in Europe--seat of the beast. 
This vial is elsewhere called the first woe. 

Verse 11. These people still did not repent of their deeds. 

Vial 6. 

Verse 12. The sixth angel is the Christian Church in a 
general sense. The river Euphrates is the Ottoman Empire, 
called a river because a channel or conductor of the Moham- 
medan faith, and Euphrates, because Mohammedanism had its 
birth near that river, and because it is the river of the empire. 
The Christian people of the world called the powers to restrain 
Mohammedonism, and it has been gradually destroyed — dried 
up. God had it dried up that the way of the kings of the East 
might be prepared, or that the countries now under the Mo- 
hammedon faith might be Christianized, kings of the East 
meaning God's children, those who look toward the spiritual 
east, to see the luminary of spiritual day arise. Kings of the 
Law and Sacrifice, which, in the person of the cherubim 
stood at the east of Eden, and also on the ends of the mercy 
seat. 

Verse 13. These three unclean frogs are three unlawful means 
which, after Mjhammeianism is dried up, the money po^ver 
will use to advance itself, and will be of such a chaiacter as to 
enlist the rich and powerful to oppose the reign of right and 
justice on the earth. 

Verse 14. These spirits of devils go forth to the kings of 
the earth fo enlist them against the interests of the masses. 
They are called frogs, because they are amphibious in nature — 
that is, exist both in doctrine — water— and in the secular — on 
land — i. e., they advance both temporal and spiritual interests 
for the money power and because they croak — predict disaster 
unless the money power is accepted. 

Verse 15. When we see these frogs, the time of the de- 
struction of all opposition to Christ's kingdom is near at hand 
and will come as a thief in the night — suddenly. Then Juda- 
ism will be destroyed, the governments of earth will be demol- 
ished, and apostacy in general — i. e., all false religions — cease 
to be. 

Verse 16. Armageddon means mountain or empire of the 
gospel, and this last great battle of time will be fought in its 
territory, because it will be lord of all the territory of earth. 



42 KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 



Verse 17. This angel is the Christian Church and its min- 
istry, see Chap, xiv, which through the spread of the gospel 
had come into power, and demanded that everything in oppo- 
sition to the gospel be destroyed. This angel poured its vial 
out on the air, because as the air fills and permeates every- 
thing, so through the preaching of the gospel, the earth was 
filled with the knowledge of God, as the waters cover the sea. 
The voice from the temple was Law, saying, ^^it is done," all 
opposition to the reign of Christ is destroyed. 

Verse 18. There were voices — confused jargon — thunders — 
threats — lightnings — actions — and a great earthquake — great 
revolution. That is, the masses of the people revolted from 
the rule of the money power, and governments that gave them 
only burdens to bear, and demanded that the peaceful kingdom 
of Christ alone rule the world. This will be the greatest revo- 
lution, religious and political, the world has ever seen. 

Verse 19. The great city — government of opposition i. e., 
the money power — was divided into three parts, that is the 
people rose against its rule in matters of state, finance and re- 
ligion. The cities of the nation fell i. e., their governments, 
and Great Babyloil^ — apostacy in all its forms the world over — 
was destroyed — received God's cup of wrath. 

Verse 20. Islands are small governments, mountains are 
empires or large governments. These all disappeared. 

Verse 21. This hail fell upon men i. e., opposers, espe- 
cially the money power. The hail is said to every stone weigh 
about a talent, because the talent was the Jewish money stand- 
ard, and when their rule was destroyed, their property — their 
talents — w^ere taken from them. 

Vision 8.-Chap. XVII. 

SECOND COMPANION TO VISION OF VIALS. 

Verse i. The angel of this verse is the Christian Church, 
which poured out the seventh vial, see Chap, xiv, 6-8. The 
great whore is apostacy in general, not any particular apostacy, 
sitteth on many waters — on many peoples or nations. 

Verse 2. The kings of the earth committed fornication with 
apostacy, because in general men must be apostates before they 
can rise to great rule over men. Christianity does not permit 
of empirical rule i. e., ^^He that will be greatest among you let 
him be his servant." This is gospel doctrine. 

Verse 3. St. John had to go into the precincts of sin to 
see this woman, for only there is she to be found. It is here 
described as a wilderness. This woman is apostacy in general. 
The scarlet colored beast is the beast of the sacrifice, or the 
system of typical sacrifices and ordinances, which, after the 
FALL OF MAN, God instituted for his salvation. Of this system 
the Israelites were the exponents. This system He instituted 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 43 

right after the fall, at the time when He posted the cherubim 
on the east of Eden to keep the way of the tree of life, aod 
clothed our first parents with coats of skins, or in other words, 
clothed, or placed between God's justice and men's nakedness 
spiritually, the covering of the sacrifices. It was full of names 
of blasphemy, because prostituted from God's service to the 
devils. It had seven heads and ten horns. The seven horns 
are the seven universal empires: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, 
Medo-Persian empire, Macedonian empire, Rome and the 
papacy. The ten horns are medaeval and modern Europe. 
Apostacy has always rode the scarlet beast of the sacrifice to 
carry her into empire. Paganism rode it in all her forms of 
apostacy, 'for all pagan religions had their priests and their sac- 
rifices. Catholicism rode it, for she had her priests and sacri-, 
ficial institutions, and Judaism will ride it, because it belongs 
to her. The name of this beast is, ^'the Beast that Was, that Is 
Not, and Yet Is." 

Verse 4. This woman — apostacy — was arrayed in two of 
the tabernacle colors, the purple, which represents royalty, 
and the scarlet, which means sacrifice, but she lacked the 
blue, which is truth, i. e., she was false. She was also orna- 
mented with the tabernacle jewels, and carried the golden cup 
of the gospel in her hand ; golden indeed when used to dispense 
to thirsty humanity the waters of life, but which she used to 
deal out the waters, or doctrines, of apostacy, or the abomina- 
tion and filthiness of her fornication. 

Verse 5. The meaning of this name is: This woman is 
apostacy in general. All the different forms of apostacy, or 
;the different false faiths of the world are her daughters. Note: 
Cain was the first apostate. He as the eldest son was the au- 
thorized priest of the family and under his priesthood contem- 
iplated setting up the universal kingdom which God had prom- 
^ised to men, and proclaiming himself the Messiah who was to 
-restore to men" all they had lost by the fall. When God rejected 
him, his dream of power was at an end, and fearing Abel 
w^ould become the great ruler he wished to be, he slew him in 
his wrath and went out from the presence of the Lord — ceased 
to be His priest — to become the ruler over sin, as God had said. 
Gen. iv, 7, i. e., to set up an apostate government in opposition 
to God. To do this he went out on the east of Eden — ^got be- 
tween man and his God — to the land of Nod — which means to 
beckon — and proclaiming himself the Messiah, establish his gov- 
ernment on the base of the sacrifice i. e., rode the scarlet beast 
of the sacrifical institution. Those under his government were 
called MEN, and those who remained under God's government, 
the SONS OF GOD. Gen. vi, 2. This government God destroyed 
with the flood, when man established after the flood another 
false system of religion at Babel, from whence apostacy is 
called Babylon. 



^j_ KEX TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 



Verse 6. John saw this woman drunken with the blood of 
the saints and was greatlj astonished to see her a persecutor 
when she sat on the sacrifice; but the angel said, be not as- 
tonished you might have expected as much from a power op- 
posing Christ, it it does ride the Israelitish beast, and then 
proceeds to explain the mystery of the woman and the beast 
that carrieth her. 

^^""^fu' r V2!? ^^^ast WAS from the fall of man until Christ 
came and bv fulfilling all the sacrifices typified, caused the 
sacrifice and the oblation to cease, when it ceased to be in God^s 
eyos, but to the Jews it has never ceased to be. They still con- 
sider themselves and the Mosaical institutions, the church of 
(jod, and to- them IT IS. 

This beast is said to come up out of the bottomless pit, 
t'i^^n''to"Go'd ""^ ""^ ""^ ^"""^^ ^^''''"^^ '^ '' "''''' ^" °PP°"^- 

All the world shall wonder, etc. No doubt the world will 
wonder when they see the despised, the kicked and cuffed Tew 
who It thought had seen his last dav of empire again seated 

of t^hTworld """^^ ^'' ^""^"^ -''''^'"^ ^^^ '^^"' °^ ^^^ '^^P*^^ 
Verse 9. The seven heads are seven universal governments 
—mountains on which the woman sitteth. 

nireYnd'^h^M ^^F^'- ^''^''?' ^^^ylon, Medo-Persian em- 

pire and the Macedonian empire had fallen in St. John's time 

Rome still stood, and the seventh, the papacy, had not^ei 



come. 



Verse II. This verse plainly states that the beast on 

Ts ''tnfb^'^h^ ''■i:i'''' •^^"^y '''^' ^^'^«' »hat IS NOT and vet 
ho.JhLV T ^^^•'^""'^^'!'*' empire, and explains that al- 
though of the Jew, It IS not of God, but of the devil, and w i I 
be destroyed and not be eternal, as Ihey thought. 

whiclTnVt%owt 1-" ''"'■"^ '"''.'^^ kingloffls of Europe 
LJ -11 • J ^" * '""^ "^"^ "ot ■" existence, but now are 
and w,l ,n conjunction with Judaism reign for k short^7me i 
e , be his authorized supporters. «• s-nort time i. 

Verse 11' Thf^ t^n '^'^}' ""^ '"'"'' '"PP"-"' ^^e beast. 

verse 14. Ihese shall make war w th Christ but he shall 
overcome them, for He is King of Kings, and His church is 
chosen and faithful. ^ enured is 

Verse 15. Water, i. e., the sea, means people, etc. 
renr« ■■? 'r^' ^^""J^P^ ^^all finally hate apostacy, and Europe 
represents Japheth— and will destroy her. i^urope 

:S;^3o?,'-c&fci" "••" '-' "■=" '■'' -'"""'■ 

Verse 18. This woman is apostacy, and tnen let her 



KEY TO THEREVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 45 



reign over .them because her doctrines allow them to step on 
the necks of others into power. 

Vision 9. Chaps. XYIII, XIX. 

THIRD COMPANION TO THE VIALS. 

Chap. XVIII is a lament for Great Babylon, on whom God 
poured out the vials, from those who had profited by her. 

Verse i. The angel of this verse is God's law, which was 
now so generally kept, that spiritual darkness was driven from 
the earth i. e., the earth was lightened with His glory. 

Verse 2. He cried mightily that Babylon was fallen, i. e., 
the cup of her iniquity was filled to the brim; that there was 
no longer any redeeming features about her. but that she was 
become indeed a habitation of devils and a cage of every un- 
clean and hateful bird; therefore the time of her destruction 
had come. 

Verse 3. It is a fact that no nation on earth has been 
clear ot apostacy. Even the United States of America has its 
Catholics, Mormons, etc., but most nations have been heathen. 

Verse 4. The voice of God calls His people to come out of 
Babylon. This voice is addressed to those who are God's true 
children, yet who deem it necessary to uphold present forms 
of governtnent, financial systems, etc. 

Verse 5 — 9. Her sins have reached up to heaven — her cup 
of iniquity is full. 

Verses 6 — 8 calls not only for the people of God to come 
out of her, but commands them to destroy Babylon. 

Verses 9 — 10 is a lament for Babylon — apostacy — from her 
followers. 

Verse 21. This angel is prophecy. The millstone is used to 
represent Babylon, because apostacy has always crushed and 
ground Christ's followers into the dust, as a millstone grinds 
the wheat. This stone is thrown into the sea, because in the 
sea — humanity — Babylon will be destroyed i. e., humanity 
enlightened by the gospel will destroy her. 

Verses 20-24 is a declaration that the earth will never be 
cursed with apostacy any more. 

Chap. XIX. 

The first seven verses of this chapter is a song of thanks- 
giving from Christ's followers to God that He has destroyed 
apostacy. This voice of much people is heard in heaven i. e., 
from God's government fully come on earth, or ascended to 
heaven. 

Verse 6 is the church in all nations praising God, called 
many waters, i.e., many people, and so universal is the praise 
as to sound like thunder. 



46 KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 

Verse 7. The lamb is Christ, the church is His wife and 
the wedding is Christ taking the kingdom of the earth in per- 
son, and this takes place at the beginning of the millenium. 

Verse 8 explains itself. Christ came to be married to a 
holy church. 

Verse 9. Those called are blessed, because they must be 
holy to be called. 

Verse 10. .The angel whom St. John would worship is 
prophecy, the same whom Christ sent with His revelation to 
St. John, Chap i, verse i. This angel tells John not to wor- 
ship him, for, said he, I am but thy fellow servant, for while I 
reveal the future, you testify for Jesus, and the testimony of 
Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, i. e., God proves the Bible to be 
the word of God through the fulfillment of prophecy. 

Verse II. The remainder of this chapter is devoted to 
telling how the beast Judaism was taken and with his support- 
ing governments destroyed. It relates that John saw in Christ's 
government a white horse and his rider — the Church and 
Christ — followed by the armies of the cross and all those who 
desire right and justice on the earth, go out to the last battle 
of time. 

Verse 12. Christ's eyes were as a flame of fire, i. e., 
burned with the light of vengeance. On his head the crown of 
many victories and He had a name written: Word of God. 

Versj 13. He was clothed with the vesture of the sacrifice, 
i. e., of the cross. 

Verse 14. The armies are those who desire the triumph 
of right and justice. Their white horses are their pure motives- 
and their white garments are their righteousness. Armies in 
heaven, i.e., armies in Armageddon. 

Verse 15. The sword of the spirit is the Word of God, 
The light of the gospel was now so generally diffused that like 
a sword it destroyed all wrong and opposition to God. In this 
place it has only one edge, vengeance — for Christ is going to- 
destroy Babylon. The edge, conversion, is left off as far as- 
that city is concerned. Rule them with a rod of iron, that is, 
will demand the strictest observance of God's lawor administer 
retribution. The wine-press represents the vengeance of God 
on the wicked. 

Verse 16. Vesture represents Christ as the sacrifice. The 
thigh is where the sword is worn; and this verse means that, 
either as the sacrifice for sin, or as the executor of God's wrath. 
He is King of kings and Lord of lords. 

Verse 17. This angel is the Christian Chiirch standing in 
the full light of the gospel — sun. The fowls that fly in the 
midst of heaven are those principles of equity and justice 
which belong of right to the kingdom of Christ. They fly in 
the midst of heaven, i. e., in his government; exalted to the 
heavens. The destruction of the wicked hejie contemplated,^ 



I 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 4; 



is called a supper because it is the last slaughter of the wicked 
God will make during time. 

i8. These fowls were called of God to eat the flesh of the rich, 
great and powerful, because they were opposed to Him. Horses 
mean governments, and they who sit on them, are those who 
administer them. And of all men, both bond and free — those 
who were with the opposition — not rich, titled or great. 

Verse 19. The beast is Judaism. The kings those in 
authority in the governments of men, and the armies are their 
adherents. 

Verse 20. The beast Judaism, and the false Messiah 
were taken and cast in a lake of fire burning with brimstone — 
or into unlimited vengeance and destruction; brimstone mean- 
ing destruction and lake unlimited. 

Verse 21. The remainder were rendered powerless to op- 
pose the right, i. e , the gospel was so dominant they had to 
submit to its dictates. All the fowls were filled with their flesh, 
i. e., the principles of right and justice were fully satisfied by 
their destruction. - 

Vision 10, Chap. XX.— The Millenium. 

FOURTH COMPANION TO VISION OF THE VIALS. 

Time from the fall of Adam until now had been devoted to 
the work of destroying outside opposition to the acceptance 
of the gospel by men. That is of those means by which Satan 
sought to keep men from accepting the gospel and coming 
under the law of God. as apostacy, the unlawful governments 
of men, etc. During the millenium another form of opposition 
to God will be put down, viz: The opposition which our own 
sinful natures make to accepting the law of God. We are told 
the last enemy that will be destroyed is death, i. e., death in 
the heart, or sinfulness of the heart and death in the body. In 
short the millenium is the period of the confirmation of the 
race. God begun this work with Adam, but it was broken off 
by his fall and the establishment of opposition. God stopped 
the work of confirmation long enough to put down all outside 
opposition, when it will be again renewed. 

Verse 1-3 relate that Christ descended from heaven. It is 
he who has the keys of death and hell, Chap, i : 18 — having in 
his hand a great chain, — God's decree that Satan shall no more 
room the earth, — and bound the devil, and cast him into the 
bottomless pit for a thousand years. So during the millenium 
there will be no temptation to do wrong from any source with- 
out ourselves. In the work of confirming Adam he had no 
inside temptation, but the devil was allowed to try him. Dur- 
ing millenium there will be no outside temptation, but inborn 
sin will still exist, so the two cases are about parallel, differing 
only in kind. 



48 KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHK. 



Verse 4-6. Verse 4 relates that all who had battled with 
the opposition during time, and been active to maintain the 
purity and effectiveness of the gospel, were raised from the 
dead and were made priests of God and installed the judges 
of earth under Christ's government, and lived and reigned with 
Christ a thousand years. These persons were already con- 
firmed, and the higher work of grace on which the race was 
now entered, demanded a more advanced priesthood — ministry 
than heretofore. These immortal ministers will not only 
preach holiness during the millenium, but will, like the Levites 
under the Mosaic dispensation, be establish d the judges of the 
earth, such being the right and natural order of things; the 
government being Christ'.-, and the law of his government, the 
law of God. Those skilled and confirmed in the keeping of 
that law, are the proper judges in his kingdom. The beast and 
his image. The beast is here, the papacy, and his image is 
Judaism. 

Verses 7 and 8. The words Gog and Magog mean that 
which covers: Gog apparently meaning the superior; from 
whence we infer that Gog means those living on the earth at 
this time — dead spiritually, and Magog refers to those who had 
died previous to this time, and dead spiritually, also. With 
these Satan endeavors to tempt men to re-establish the old 
order of things, i.e., compassed the camp of the saints and the 
beloved city, — God's government on earth, and tries to do so 
by breaking down the integrity of the saints. His efforts fail, 
however, for a majority of the race then living, are found to 
be confirmed and man having been tested and found by a 
majority to be devoted to God, Satan and followers are over- 
whelmed by the vengence — fire from heaven — of God. Note 
Adam was tested as to his devotion, and fell. Christ was 
tempted and found confirmed, and here the race is tried and 
found faithful. It is to try the saints, that Satan must be 
loosed at the end of ihe thousand years. When Adam was 
tested there was but one man to tempt; Satan could do the 
work alone. Here there is a multitude, Satan therefore gath- 
ers all his emissaries — Gog and Magog — to assist him. 

Verse co. Fire and brimstone represents destruction. 
The devil was cast into the lake of destruction. Let us call 
the waters of the lake, doctrine, and we shall have it; the devil 
was cast into the place, where the doctrines held and practiced 
by its inmates, carried them down for ever deeper and deeper 
into destruction. 

Verses 11-15 tell of the end of the world, and the general 
judgment. 

Verse 11. The great white throne represents the purity 
and perfection of God's throne, or government before which 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN, 49 

the sin cursed earth could not endure. It therefore fled away. 
This is the end of the world — our globe. 

Verse 12. The books of the judgment will be the Old and 
New Testaments in which God's will and the terms of salva- 
tion are related. The book of life is that which relates that 
we have done according to that written in the Bible. 

Verse 13. The sea means living humanity. This gave up 
the mortals — dead — which were in it, and death and hell — 
death and the grave, — delivered up the dead which were in 
them. These were judged according to their works. 

Verse 14. Death and the grave were cast into the lake of 
fire, i. e., were allowed no where else in the universe There 
alone men found a grave, and were dead to all the light and 
life in the universe. 

Verse 15. All who were not found written in the book of 
life were cast into hell. 

DIVISION 3. 

Church Triumphant, Historical Division, Chap- 
ters XXI, XXI r. 

THE GOVERNMENT OF HEAVEN EXTENDED TO EARTH. 

This division is the writing on the back of the book of 
Seven Seals. Neither the Trumpets nor the Vials say 
anything about the Church after time. Nor could they tor 
they deal only with what men did, and what God did through 
time. Division three has but one vision. 

Vision 1, Division 3, Chaps. XXI, XXII. 

Having accomplished the work of saving and continning 
the race, God extends the government of heaven to the earth. 
In this government men will have a perfect knowledge of the 
law of God, in all that pertains to their moral duties at least, 
which fact is expressed in Chap. XXII: verse i. The river ot 
the water of life being a full knowledge of God's law as related 
to men, and the tree of life, verse 2, the keeping of life 
through the perfect observance of that law. The tree of life is 
life through good works, or the keeping of God's law. 

Verse i. Chap. XXI, shows us the new heavens and earth 
and tells us there was no more sea — humanity bounded by the 
shores of time. 

Verses 2 and 3, John saw the New Jerusalem coming down 
from heaven to earth The New Jerusalem is God's govern- 
ment extended to earth. 

Verse 3. The tabernacle of God is the government of 
God. 

Verse 4. In this government there will be no sorrow, 
pain nor death, for sin, and all the results of breaking God's 
law are passed aw^ay. 



50 KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 



Verse 5. I make all things new. None of the things 
belonging to the time of sin shall remain. 

Verse 6. It is done, i. e., the race of mankind is saved. 

The remainder of verse 6, and the 7th and 8th verses is a 
statement that God will give to any one, all the means of sal- 
vation, and that he who uses these means rightly, shall inherit 
all things, but he who refuses to use them, shall be cast into 
hell. 

Verse 9. This angel is the church, the angel who poured 
out the seventh vial, and the bride, the lamb's wife, is the 
government of God — the New Jerusalem of verse 10. 

Verse 10. The great mountain is God's universal govern- 
ment. The New Jerusalem is that government extended to 
earth. 

Verse 11. This government will be glorious like God, and 
its light and knowledge, exceedingly clear and precious. 

Verse 12. Its wall, the protection which guaranteed the 
safety of the elect in this government, was, that every one of 
them was so confirmed in keeping God's law, that it was 
impossible for him to break that law; therefore there was no 
danger that sin would ever break into their government again. 
The twelve tribes of Israel were the gates of the gospel through 
which men had entered into this government, i. e., the gospel 
was given through the twelve tribes of Israel. 

Verse 13. In disposing the tribes about the earthly taber- 
nacle, God placed three tribes on each side, see Numbers, 
Chap. II, and as they were the gates through which men 
entered into God's government, they are shown, three on each 
side in the city of the New Jerusalem. 

Verse 14. The Apostles wrote the Epistles, preached first 
the gospel, laid down rules for church government, etc., were 
the foundation of the churches, ministerial system, and were in 
all respects the foundations of Christ's government on the 
earth, now, triumphant. 

Verse 15. This reed is the measure of perfection, Vis 10. 

Verse 16. He measured the city. It was square— a per- 
fect figure. It was twelve thousand furlongs in length, 
breadth, and height, i. e., a cube, which means perfect, each 
side, and its height, was twelve thousand furlongs, or a side 
was a thousand, which means perfect in every respect, multi- 
plied by twelve or as perfect as preached by the twelve apostles 
or as represented figuratively by the twelve tribes — twelve rep- 
resents the church of God. 

Verse 17. The wall was an hundred and forty-four cubits 
which means that everyone in that government had been a 
minister, either by precept, labor or example, to build up and 
maintain God's government on earth, 144 meaning ministry. 
According to the measure of the angel. The angel is the 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 51 



church. The idea conveyed in verse 17 is that every person in 
this government had helped build it in the face of all obstacles 
and therefore would defend it or be a wall to it. 

Verse 18. The wall was of jasper — very precious or neces- 
sary — and the city of pure gold. That is, this government was 
exceedingly precious and necessary for the happiness of man- 
kind. 

Verse 19-20. The apostles were each endowed with every 
necessary and valuable requisite for founding this government, 
and each had his peculiar fitness. They are said therefore to 
be garnished with jewels. 

Verse 21. The institution of the twelve tribes to be the 
gates to the gospel was a very precious and necessary institu- 
tion. Each tribe was therefore a great pearl in God's govern- 
ment on earth. Note: If any wonder why the apostles are 
made the foundations and the tribes the gates of this govern- 
ment after time, when they were the gates and foundations 
through time, let them remember that God never had but one 
government on the earth after the fall of man. This He reared 
up when He posted the cherubim on the east of Eden and it 
was carried down through the line of Seth and the patriarchs 
to Noah and the flood, when God saved the members of this 
government in the ark. Thence it was carried down thcstream 
of time through the line of Shem to Christ, thence through the 
ministry to the millenium, thence through Christ to the end of 
time, and from thence onward forever under the government of 
God himself. As this government began after the fall and has 
contnued ever since and will «ver continue a gate or founda- 
tion, once placed remains forever. 

The street of the city means the way men walked in, in this 
city, which was according to the laws of God. This perfect 
keeping of the law is therefore likened to a street of pure gold. 

Verse 22. There was no need of a temple, for salvation 
through the law and the sacrifice was no longer preached. The 
Lord God and the Lamb — Christ — taught men directly the way 
to live, i. e., they made men perfectly acquainted with the law 
of God, and then men lived by works. 

Verse 23. The city had no need of the gospel — sun — or of 
the reflected light of the church— the moon — i. e., men w^ere 
saved and the gospel of salvation was no longer needed: God's 
law perfectly known to men was their light. 

Verse 24. All the saved shall walk in this light. Kings of 
the earth are these saved persons i. e., God's children will be 
the kings of the earth. 

Verse 25. This city shall never be closed to God's children 
but they shall, without interruption, enjoy its privileges for- 
ever. There shall be no night of sin or opposition. 



52 KEX TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 



Verse 26. All the nations saved shall ascribe the glory and 
honor to which thev have attained to this government, and 
shall dwell gloriously therein. 

Verse 27. There shall never enter into it anything that 
will defile it, but we are assured this government will remain 
eternally the same pure, glorious government. 



Chapter XXII. 

Verse i. The river is the law of God, clear because un- 
adulterated. 

Verse 2. The Tree of Life is the perfect keeping of 
God's law in all its branches. The penalty of sin has been 
paid, and the saints now have again, the right to live by works, 
as man did before the fall. This tree is in the midst of the 
street of the city — the street is the moral walk of the saints — - 
because by walking morally, one inevitably keeps his spirit- 
ual life. It is also on either bank of the river of law, because 
the law kept brings life. The twelve manner of fruits the tree 
yields are the fruits of righteousness, viz., love, joy, peace, 
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temper- 
ance, immortal life, immortal happiness, and immortal pro- 
gress. It bore its fruit every month, i. e., at all times, or all 
the time. The leaves of the tree are the effects of righteous- 
ness, and bring health to the nations. 

Verse 3. The earth shall never be cursed for man's sake 
any more, but God's government established through the sac- 
rifice of the Lamb, Christ, shall always endure in the earth. 

Verse 4. They shall see God's face, and the name Child of 
God shall be written in their foreheads. 

Verse 5. There shall be no night of sin there in the which 
God's face will be hid from men. They will not need the can- 
dle of the Church, neither the gospel sun, but they will be 
taught by God himself. 

Verse 6. This angel is prophecy. 

Verse 7. Christ comes quickly, because the events re- 
corded in the history, called Revelation of St. John, were to 
transpire immediately. 

Verse 8. The angel was the Church ot Christ. John was 
one ot Christ's ministers. The Church and John were there- 
fore fellow-servants of Christ. The Church kept the sayings 
of this book as did John. 

The remainder of this book is easily understood. Let us 
follow tne angel's advice, worship God who has given us such 
a wonderful prophecy in such a wonderful way. 



KEY TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 53 

Dictionary of Figures. 

This key comprises a dictionary of figurative terms, but 
they have been cut off in this edition to facilitate publishing. 
We hope to add it to the next edition. — Grundy. 

THE END. 



2= man; 3= God — the Trinity; 7=God, the Creator; 4= the cherubim, 5 = 
the cherubim and the ministerial system. These were the five bars that 
upheld the tabernacle, the ministry or priesthood running its »vhole length; 
10= perfection; 1000= perfect from every side. 12 represents God's church 
12 is 3x4, which means that the Trinity (3) invited men into His government 
from every point of the compass (4). The ratio 100-10 — i, or the letters 
DCLXVI=denominational power; 100, or 10x100, refers to surface measure- 
ment. See Exodus xxv — xxviii and Numbers 11, in which every factor in the 
plan of salvation is given by typical numbers. The twelve tribes of Israel 
were the church in the old dispensation and prefigured the Christian church 
therefore in Numbers 12 represents the Christian church. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

9 971 849 61 




